Remedy for Despair
by KACULLEN
Summary: After tragically losing her mother, Bella goes to live with her dad in Forks. Once there Bella meets loner/ outcast Edward and things start to look better. What happens when the past comes back to haunt her? AH
1. Chapter 1

**I don't own Twilight**

Chapter 1

"Bella, I just have to run in to the bank. I'll be real quick," Renee said as she pulled into the bank parking lot.

"Alright," I sighed, "I'll wait in the car."

"I'll just be gone a minute," my mother promised, opening the car door and letting in the stifling Arizona heat. I watched her walk into the bank as I lay my head on the headrest, then closed my eyes. We were on our way to go "back to school" shopping, and since I hated shopping and had put this off until the last possible day, I knew it was going to be brutal. One day of nothing but shopping is _not_ my idea of a good time.

After a few minutes had passed I cracked my eyes open a bit and glanced at the bank doors. I wouldn't have expected it to take this long to get money from the ATM, but figured there must have been a line. I wasn't worried.

Sitting in the car with the warm sun on my face and listening to the radio with my head back, I could feel myself start to doze off. With a start I realized where I was, and that ten minutes had passed since my mom had entered the bank. Irritation set in as I assumed she had run into a friend who she just _had_ to talk to. My mom seems to run into friends everywhere we go, and can't avoid a conversation with them even if she saw the person the day before. It is slightly annoying when a five minute trip the grocery store turns into an hour-long adventure, which is probably where my hatred of shopping stems from. You would think at some point she would run out of things to talk about, but no. I knew if I didn't go in there to get her I would be stuck here for an hour.

I flung open my car door, and just as my foot touched the ground I heard gun shots. I could almost feel the color drain from my face when I realized they had come from inside the bank, and a second later I watched in horror as a man tucking a gun in the back of his pants ran out of the bank and down the street. As he fled at almost an inhuman speed, all I registered about him was his long, dirty blonde pony tail and the small duffle bag in his arms.

When he disappeared around the corner I pulled out my cell phone and called 911.

"Nine-One-One. What is your emergency?" the operator said in a bored tone.

"I…I think…there were gun shots, a-and…I think the b-bank was just r-r-robbed," I stammered as I started to hyperventilate, my fear taking hold as the reality of what I was saying began to sink in.

"I need you to calm down, Miss, and tell me your location," the woman said with a more serious attitude this time.

"Um," I said as I frantically searched for an address on the building, "2525 East Camelback Road."

"Are you inside the building right now?" she asked.

"No," I replied, "You have to send somebody right now, my mother is inside!" I almost screamed.

"Okay, Miss, I'm going to dispatch a unit immediately. Just stay calm," she said, pleading. It wasn't going to happen, though.

"My mom went into the bank and I was in the car waiting for her when I heard gun shots then a man with a gun a duffle bag ran out," I explained quickly before the stammers took over again.

"Do you know if there any other armed men or women inside?" the operator asked.

"No," I replied.

"Okay, I need you to wait in the car until officers arrive. Do you understand?" the operator asked.

"But my mom is in there," I said as I fought back tears.

"I know honey, but if you go in there you could get hurt, and that wouldn't help your mom," she explained.

"What should I do?" I asked. I had never been in such a dire situation before, and my wits were slowly leaving me altogether.

"Just stay in the car and wait for the police to arrive," the operator answered, "I'll stay on the line with you until they arrive."

"Thank you," I replied. The operator was silent after that, but just knowing she was there made me feel a little better.

Finally, after what had to be the longest, most agonizing five minutes of my life, the police and medics arrived.

"They're here," I told the operator.

"Alight. Good luck, I will be praying for your mom," she answered.

"Thank you," I said before hanging up and dashing out of the car. The police officers were getting out of their squad cars when I ran up.

"You can't be here," one of the officers said when he saw me.

"My mom is inside," I said fighting back tears with everything I had.

"Did you see what happened?" the officer asked.

"No, I was in the car and I heard gun shots, and then a man with a gun ran out and I called 911," I rushed through my explanation, "It happened so fast."

"Okay," the officer said while placing what I assume was supposed to a reassuring hand on my shoulder. The only thing that could bring me any comfort right now was my mom.

"Sir," an officer said from behind us.

"Yes officer," the man with his hand on my shoulder replied.

"I just heard from Dispatch. They talked to the manager inside the bank, and no one else is armed. They reported three GSWs," he explained.

"Alright, then. Medics, you can move in. Expect three GSWs," the man yelled as he dropped his hand from my shoulder. I prayed for my mom as I watched three gurneys get unloaded and rolled into the bank.

"Miss, what is your name?" the man asked me.

"Bella. Bella Swan," I answered quietly.

"Bella, I am Captain Denali," he replied, and I nodded to let him know I was listening.

"How old are you Bella?" he asked.

"Sixteen," I replied, and held my breath as the first gurney was rolled out. My worry eased the tiniest bit when I realized the person on the gurney wasn't my mom.

"What is your mom's name?" Captain Denali asked.

"Renee Swan. Wait - sorry, I mean Dwyer. Renee Dwyer," I clarified. I wasn't used to my mom's new married name yet. Just then the second gurney rolled out, and when it was clear my mom wasn't on it, my worry eased a fraction more.

"Alright Bella, can you describe the man you saw running out of the bank?" Captain Denali asked. The questions were really starting to get annoying and I grit my teeth to keep from snapping at him.

"He…" I began, but trailed off when the third gurney appeared. If I thought I knew anything about true fear before this moment, I was horribly wrong.

I froze as I watched them wheel my blood-soaked mother out of the bank. Everything covering Renee's entire upper body was dark red with blood, and I watched as the medics frantically tried to stop or, at best slow down the bleeding, but I could tell it wasn't working.

"Mom!" I sobbed as they loaded her into the ambulance. Captain Denali's hand was back on my shoulder, only this time he was restraining me from running forward.

"Let me go," I pleaded, "I have to be with her."

"They are going to need all of the room they can get to work on your mother in the ambulance, Bella," he explained, "I'll take you to the hospital and we'll arrive at the same time she does."

I nodded numbly and walked with the Captain to his squad car. Once we were in, Denali took off at full speed with lights and sirens. We didn't speak at all, which was fine because I was busy praying for my mom.

We pulled into the hospital just seconds after the ambulance, and when the paramedics climbed out I knew immediately that my prayers had not been answered. They all wore identical looks of defeat and anger.

"I'm very sorry," Denali said, making it clear that he too had noticed their faces. Ignoring his sympathy for the moment I ran over to the ambulance. I needed to hear the paramedics say the words. It couldn't be real and I wouldn't believe it until I heard them say the words.

"You can't be here," one of the paramedics said when he saw me approach.

"That's my mom," I pointed to the blood-soaked person on the gurney. The paramedics exchanged a look and turned back to me with pity in their eyes.

"Did she…is she…?" I couldn't get the words out.

"She didn't make it," one of the paramedics answered, "She suffered a gunshot wound to an artery in the chest, and even though we did everything we could there was just too much blood lost. I am so very sorry."

That confirmation did it. Even seeing my mother lying on the gurney, with no sign of life in her normally happy and sun-kissed face, and none of the paramedics working on her with any hope, it was those words that crushed me. I collapsed on the ground and let the gut wrenching sobs I had been trying to fight take over. My brain registered that the paramedics were trying to talk to me, but their voices seemed muffled and far away. I couldn't respond.

The next thing I was aware of was a strong arm around my waist. I recognized Denali through my tears and realized he was helping me up. We walked into the hospital and he helped me get settled in a chair.

"Who can I call for you, sweetheart?" he asked as he squatted down in front of me.

"My Stepdad, Phil Dwyer, I guess." I still didn't know Phil that well, and I really wanted my dad to be here, but he stayed in Washington after the divorce.

"Alright," Denali answered as he stepped away to make the call. A few minutes later he returned and informed me that Phil was on his way and would be here shortly.

"Can I use your phone?" I asked a while later, "I want to call my Dad and I left my phone in my… my Mom's car." Thinking of her car sitting in the bank parking lot sent a jolt of pain through my heart.

"Of course," Denali answered as he handed me his phone.

"Thanks," I mumbled as I stood and walked outside to make the call. I dialed the familiar number of the police station in Forks where he worked.

"Chief Swan," I heard on the other end. The sound of my Dad's voice immediately had me falling apart again.

"Daddy," I whimpered, my grief turning me into a little girl who needed her father.

"Bella, honey, what's wrong?" Charlie asked worriedly.

"M…Mom's….she's…she died," I stuttered through my tears.

"What?" my Dad asked in absolute horror. I explained as best I could in my hysteria what had happened, and by the end I could tell my dad was crying too.

"Bella, I am getting on the next flight to Phoenix. I will bet there as soon as I can," my Dad said through tears.

"Ok" I sniffled.

"I love you Bells," my Dad said.

"I love you too, Dad," I replied before he hung up. As soon as I hung up Phil came rushing toward me. His red-rimmed eyes let me know he was not doing much better than me.

"Bella, is it true?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around me. I just nodded into his chest, knowing that if I had to talk I would lose it yet again.

"My Renee," Phil sobbed, and I lost it. We stood there holding each other and sobbing until Denali came out and found us. I pulled away when I saw Denali, and wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

"This is Phil, my Stepdad," I said to Denali and then to Phil, "Phil, this is Captain Denali."

"I'm very sorry for your loss," Captain Denali said as he shook Phil's hand.

"Thank you," Phil replied.

"Bella, I am going to leave now because I know the two of you need some time, but I am going to need you to come to the station tomorrow," Denali said.

"Why?" I asked.

"I have some follow up questions for you," Denali explained, "I know that it's probably the last thing you want to do, but it is routine."

"Okay," I replied, too tired to fight about it. I wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep, although I knew sleep would not come easy tonight.

"I promise it won't take long," Denali said, and I just nodded and handed him his phone. He slid his phone into his pocket and, after giving us one last glance, he walked away.

Phil and I watched him go, and as soon as he was out of sight we silently turned and walked into the hospital.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! I am so happy we finally mananged to pull ourselves away from Words with Friends on Facebook for longer than five minutes ;) **

**I hope you guys like the first chapter of my new story! Please review and let me know what you think. Thanks :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Two

When Phil and I entered the hospital, we were greeted by an ER nurse.

"Miss Swan…Mr. Dwyer…I am so sorry for your loss," she said.

"Thank you," we both mumbled.

"We have put Mrs. Dwyer in a private room, so you can say goodbye," she explained. We both nodded, and followed her down the long beige hallway to the room that held my mother.

"Take all the time you need," the nurse said when we stopped in front of a door, "When you are finished, please go to the front desk."

"Why?" Phil asked.

"We need you to fill out some paperwork," she said sympathetically, "And we'll need to know the arrangements as soon as possible so that we can authorize the release," she responded.

"Alright," Phil said, and the nurse turned and walked away. Phil and I stood in the hallway, staring at each other, as we silently tried to figure out how to proceed.

"You can go first," I whispered when the silence became too much for me. The truth was, I wasn't ready to face my mother. It was my fault she was lifeless in that room; if I had done my shopping earlier, none of this would have happened.

When Phil walked into the room and shut the door, I put my back against the wall and slid down to floor; I pulled my knees up to my chin and watched and as doctors and nurses bustled past me. I knew they were busy saving lives, and it broke my heart to know they couldn't save the one life I wanted them so desperately to save.

Phil came out of the room about fifteen minutes later with tears streaming down his face. I stood up and hugged him tightly. When we pulled away, I made my way numbly into the room that held my mother.

It was typical of a hospital. Bed, chair, TV attached to the ceiling, and a door that led to a bathroom. The only thing that wasn't typical was my mother's still, lifeless body that lay in the bed. My mom was the most outgoing person I knew, so this scene gutted me.

"Mom?" I whispered as I crept closer to the bed.

"Mom, I am so sorry," I whimpered as I grasped her hand. I felt the coldness and immediately dropped it.

I opened my mouth to say something; anything. But I was so crippled with guilt I lost the ability to speak. The room seemed to be closing in around me and I had to leave; had to escape. Escape the guilt and the reality of what was happening.

I ran out of the room, past Phil who was calling my name, and out of the hospital. I found a small park and collapsed on a bench.

I shifted so I was lying down on the bench and stared up at the sky. There were a few clouds floating above, and I did everything I could to concentrate on them. I shut out everything around me and everything thing that was happening and just focused on the clouds. I knew that if I lost that focus that the guilt would come back and swallow me whole.

I don't know how long I was lying there, but I was brought out of my cloud gazing when a shadow fell over me. Blinking, I looked up and saw Phil.

"Hi," I said quietly as I sat up.

"Hey," he said as he sat down next to me.

"Sorry I ran out, but it was all too much and I panicked," I said.

"I understand," Phil replied and I could see that he did, "None of this seems real."

"I know," I whispered.

"I feel like at any minute I am going to wake up, and Renee will be there lying next to me," Phil said, causing my guilt to return full force.

"I am so sorry," I sobbed, "If I had done my shopping earlier, we wouldn't have been at the bank and none of this would have happened."

"This is _not_ your fault," Phil said as he turned to face me. "Renee had to go the bank anyway, so if you two hadn't been shopping she still would have been there."

"Yeah, but maybe she would have gone later or earlier if I wasn't with her," I protested.

"Bella, I don't blame you for anything. And I know your mother wouldn't blame you, so you've got to stop," Phil said gently. I nodded, but I didn't agree. Deep down I knew I was the reason my mother was dead, and I didn't know if the guilt from that would ever go away.

"Let's go home," Phil said as he stood and held his hand out for me to take.

"Okay," I sighed and took his hand.

The drive home was silent as Phil and I both tried to figure out how we would face being in the house without Renee. When we pulled up to the house I was shocked to see my mom's car sitting in the driveway.

"How…?" I began.

"The police brought it back here," Phil said as he followed my gaze to the car.

"Oh, okay," I replied as I trudged up the sidewalk.

I went inside and went straight up to my room because I wasn't ready to face the other rooms of the house quite yet. Renee decorated the entire house, so her presence was everywhere and it was more than I could handle right now.

I flopped down on my bed and picked up the picture that sat on the ledge next to my bed. It was a picture of my mom and me at her wedding to Phil. We had our arms wrapped around each other and we looked blissfully happy. More than anything, I wished I could go back to that moment when everything was happy and carefree. Everything was a nightmare now, and I didn't know if it would ever get better. I don't know how long I stared at that picture, but I jumped when I heard a knock on my door.

"Come in," I called as I hastily put the picture back. Phil opened the door half way and stuck his head through. Phil never really came in my room and was really good at respecting my privacy; it was one of things I liked about him.

"I just made some soup. Why don't you come down and have some?" Phil said.

"No thanks," I replied. Food was one of the last things on my mind.

"Bella, you need to eat," Phil pressed.

"Alright," I sighed, not really up for a fight at the moment. Phil looked a little shocked that I gave in so easily, but chose not to comment.

We walked down stairs and sat at the table. The soup was warm and it felt good my throat, which was a little raw from all the crying I had done. I didn't really taste it, but I did enjoy the warmth. Once I was done I thanked Phil for the soup, washed my bowl, and went back up to my room. I changed into some sweatpants and a comfy t-shirt and crawled into bed.

I didn't think sleep would come easy after the traumatic day I had, but I guess all the crying had exhausted me. I fell asleep quickly, but my dreams were filled with gunshots, screaming, and blood.

I awoke with a start and had to clamp my hand over my mouth to prevent the scream I was holding to break free. The last thing I wanted was to wake up Phil. Once I gained control of myself and calmed down I looked at my clock and saw that it was just after six in the morning. I knew there was no way I was going to get back to sleep, so I went downstairs and fixed myself a bowl of cereal. I wasn't really hungry, but it gave me something to do.

Just as I was swallowing my last bite of cereal there was a knock at the door. I got up and put my bowl in the sink as I went to answer it. Words cannot describe how relieved I was to see my dad on the other side of the door. Seeing my dad standing there had the same effect as talking to him on the phone the day before; tears, lots and lots of tears. Seeing my dad made everything I was trying to forget come rushing back.

"Daddy," I whimpered through my tears.

"Oh sweetheart, come here," my dad said as he wrapped his arms around me and held me close. I leaned against him as he led me into the living room, and we sat down on the couch, him holding me and rubbing my back while I cried. Pretty soon I heard my dad sniffling and I knew he was crying too.

This is how Phil found us, sobbing together on the couch.

"Hey Charlie," Phil greeted when my dad and I had calmed a bit.

"Phil," my dad replied, "I'm sorry for your loss; I know you and Renee were happy together, and I am sorry you didn't have more time with her." I was proud of my dad for saying that, because even though he would never admit it I knew he had never really gotten over my mother.

"Thank you Charlie," Phil said as he sat in the loveseat across from us.

"So, um, do you have everything figured out for the funeral and the wake?" Charlie asked rubbing the back of his neck, a sure sign that he was uncomfortable.

"Yeah, the wake is tomorrow night and the funeral is the day after," Phil explained.

"What?" I asked confused as to when all of this had been planned.

"I called the funeral home and made the arrangements from the hospital yesterday when you went to the park," Phil explained and I nodded.

"Bells, I'm going to go make hotel arrangements and get checked in, but I will come back right after, okay?" Charlie said as he stood up.

"Charlie, don't be ridiculous. You can stay here," Phil said.

"That's okay. I don't want to cause you anymore stress," Charlie said.

"You wouldn't, and I know Bella would feel better having you here," Phil said.

"Please stay, Dad?" I pleaded.

"Alright," Charlie agreed.

"Thank you," I said as I stood up, "I have to go get dressed so I can go to the police station."

"Wait, why do you have to go to the police station?" Charlie asked.

"Captain Denali, the man who was in charge yesterday, wants me to come in for some follow up questions," I explained.

"I'll go with you then," Charlie said.

"Oh, you don't have to," I replied, but really the idea made me feel better.

"Bella, I'm going with you," Charlie repeated with a fatherly tone.

"Okay," I replied. Having my cop father there would probably be a good thing.

Half an hour later I was dressed and Charlie and I were in Phil's car on the way to the police station. Neither of us wanted to go near my mom's car, which Phil understood and agreed to let us use his.

Charlie parked the car and we got out and walked into the police station. At the front desk I told them I was here to see Captain Denali, and they brought us back to his office.

"Hello Bella," Denali said when he saw me, "Come on in and have a seat." I sat in the chair he gestured to and Charlie sat in the one next to it.

"How are you doing today?" Denali asked, and I shrugged not really knowing how to answer.

"Well, I promise this won't take long," Denali said as he looked quizzically at my father.

"Okay. This is my dad, Charlie," I said suddenly, feeling rude for not introducing him right away.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Swan. I am sorry for your loss," Denali said as he reached out to shake Charlie's hand.

"Thank you," Charlie replied.

"Bella, all I want you to do today is look at some pictures and see if you recognize the man you saw at the bank yesterday," Denali explained.

"Alright," I replied.

Denali opened his desk drawer and pulled out a folder, which he passed to me. I opened it and began to flip through the pictures. Charlie and Denali were silent as I looked at the pictures and it was slightly unnerving to feel them both waiting on me.

I was about half way through the stack when I saw it. The man I saw running out of the bank.

"Him," I said quietly as I stared at the picture, "It was him".

"Shit," I heard Charlie say under his breath.

"What?" Denali asked.

"It's the nomad," Charlie replied.

"Damn it," Denali exclaimed, "this is bad."

"Yes it is," Charlie replied.

"Mr. Swan, can I ask how you know about the nomad?" Denali inquired.

"I'm the police chief in Forks, Washington, and we got the bulletin just like every other police station in the country," Charlie explained.

"Can someone please explain what is going on?" I asked, feeling left out.

"This man that you saw running out of the bank is one of the most wanted men in the country," Charlie explained.

"I got that," I snapped and instantly regretted it.

"This man has robbed banks all over the country, and he has left a bloody mess in his wake," Charlie continued ignoring my outburst.

"At least one person dies whenever he goes into a bank," Denali said and looked at me with sympathy.

"How come he hasn't been caught?" I asked.

"He is smart," Denali answered, and I had to fight to control an eye roll.

"He has a device that jams any security a bank might have," Charlie elaborated.

"What do you mean?" I asked. Technology wasn't really my thing.

"Somehow he managed to get a frequency remote that deactivates all security cameras and panic buttons in a building. When he robs a bank he can do it quickly and without the police being alerted until after he leaves," Charlie explained.

"He works fast and he never lets the tellers handle the money. He puts it in the bag himself to avoid anyone planting an ink bomb to taint the money."

"Why is he called the nomad?" I asked.

"He works alone and he never stays in one area of the country," Denali replied.

"What is his real name?" I asked, feeling like it was important.

"We don't know," Denali answered, "He wears gloves, so no one has been able to get a finger print to identify him." I tried to remember if he was wearing gloves yesterday, but I couldn't. Everything happened so fast that some of the details were lost on me.

"Oh," was my stellar response.

"I will put out an APB and see if anything comes of it," Denali said, "but my guess is that he has already left the area. In the meantime, I'm sure you have things to attend to, so I will be in touch if I have any more questions."

"Okay. Thank you," I replied as Charlie and I stood.

"Please keep me updated and let me know if you hear anything," Charlie said as he shook Denali's hand.

"Of course," Denali replied before turning to me. "Thank you for coming in today Bella, and again I am sorry for your loss." I just nodded as Charlie and I walked out of the door.

We didn't say much on the way home. I was too busy processing what I had learned to make conversation, and I didn't have anything to say anyway.

I found it strange that this nomad guy had done so much damage and I had never heard of him, but then again I rarely watch the news and tend to tune my dad out when he talks about work. I was pretty sure my dad had never said anything about this nomad, though.

When we got home my dad went to get set up in the guest room and then he was going to tell Phil what had transpired today. I didn't really want to go through it again so I went up to my room.

I spent the rest of the day in my room watching mindless TV to get my mind off of things. It didn't work, but I tried. I joined my dad and Phil for a dinner of pizza before retreating to my room once more for the night. I think they were both worried about me, but neither of them said anything.

My day of TV wasn't totally wasted, because by the time I went to sleep I had come to a decision. I could not stay in this house; there were just too many reminders to make me sad. So after the funeral I was going to ask Charlie if I could go back to Forks with him to live.

The wake the next day was small, but tasteful. My mom's parents had died a while ago, and she had no siblings. So it was just a few of our neighbors, her friends, and a few of my friends. I didn't have many friends, and the ones I had I wasn't very close with, so I thought it was nice that they showed up. I spent most of the wake trying to avoid the coffin; I just couldn't deal with seeing my mom in there.

It was a long night and by the time it was over I fell into bed and went right to sleep. I was so tired that for the first time in the past few days I didn't have any nightmares.

The funeral was just as small as the wake, and I was surprised to see Captain Denali there. It was nice of him to come and give condolences again. After the funeral was over Charlie, Phil and I stood by my mother's grave.

"Can I have a minute alone to say goodbye?" I asked.

"Of course," my dad replied, and Phil nodded. After they walked away I sat down next to my mother's grave.

"Mom," I began as tears filled my eyes, "I am so sorry." I brushed away some tears I tried to gather my thoughts.

"I know…I know that you wouldn't want me to blame myself, but I can't help it. If I would have done my shopping earlier we wouldn't have been at the bank and this wouldn't have happened." I was sobbing and could barely speak at this point, but I tried to continue.

"I…I'm so, so sorry, Mom. I lo…love you so much," I sobbed. Charlie came over and helped me up. When I was on my feet, he wrapped his arm around my shoulder to support me and helped me to the car. Phil climbed into the front seat while my dad got in the back seat with me. Charlie kept his arm around me; I rested my head on his shoulder, and I let him hold me the whole way home.

I got a hold of myself by the time we got home and, after showering and changing, I went to find Charlie. I found him in the guest room, packing, and he looked up when I came into the room.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" I asked.

"Sure, Bells," my dad replied, as he set he suitcase on the floor so we could sit on the bed.

"Can I come and live with you in Forks?" I asked, getting straight to point.

"I was actually going to talk to you about that," Charlie said.

"You were?" I asked, confused.

"Yes, and I am glad you want to come. You would have had to anyway, even if you didn't want to," Charlie said.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," he hesitated, "in the event of your mother's death, which we never expected," he looked at me pointedly, "you would come to live with me. It's in her will," Charlie explained.

"Oh," I replied. It made sense from a parental perspective, and I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before.

"With you being sixteen and all, I couldn't leave you here," Charlie said.

"I guess not. But it's not like I would have been alone. Phil would have been here," I said.

"Yeah, but he is on the road more than he is here. And I'm your father," Charlie said.

"Oh," I said. "I get it."

"Alright," my Dad said as leaned over and gave me a quick hug "Go pack, and we'll plan to leave tomorrow."

"Okay," I said as I headed for the door. I stopped in the doorway.

"Hey Dad," I began.

"Yeah Bells?" he replied.

"I love you," I said.

"I love you too Bells," he replied.

I went upstairs and began packing and preparing for my new life in Forks.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn and congrats on the new tattoo my friend ;) I want to say thank you to: the captains wife, sujari6, Xx-BMSC-xX and Rebadams7 for taking the time to review it means alot. For those of you who do leave a review I do send replies so PLEASE REVIEW :) **

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! **


	3. Chapter 3

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Three:

Our arrival in Forks was uneventful. Charlie's house and my room were exactly as I remembered them. I almost commented on the lack of change, but then realized the consistency was actually quite comforting.

I was in such a rush to leave Arizona that I only packed the basics; my favorite clothes and mementos. It only took me a half an hour to unpack, and as I was putting my clothes away I quickly realized they were more suited to a warm climate – not the northwest corner of the country. I would need some warmer winter clothes soon.

Wanting to keep busy, I went downstairs and took stock of what Charlie had in the kitchen. Since I knew I would be doing the cooking, I needed to know what I had to work with. The answer was pretty much what I expected: not much. A trip to the grocery store would be the first thing on my list of things to do.

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked Charlie as he came in the room.

"Bella, it's your first night here. You don't have to cook," Charlie said as he walked to the phone, "I'll order a pizza for us." I didn't argue because there just weren't any other options dinner-wise.

"I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow so I have something to cook for tomorrow night," I said.

"Actually," Charlie said hesitantly, "Billy Black just called and he wants to have us over for dinner tomorrow night."

"What?" I groaned.

"Look, I know you and Jacob don't exactly get along," Charlie began.

"Get along?" I interrupted, "Jacob's a little pervert."

When I visited Charlie last summer we were visiting the Blacks and Jacob, Billy's thirteen year old son, and I went swimming at First Beach. I wanted to change out of my wet bathing suit and Charlie was in the bathroom, so Jacob said I could change in his room. I was wearing a bikini, and when I took the top off I glanced at the window and saw Jacob looking in. So, yeah, Jacob and I don't get along.

"Bella, Billy was fond of Renee and he wants to do something nice for us," Charlie said, "So please put aside your differences with Jacob for one night."

"I will," I sighed, "It is really nice of Billy to invite us."

"I think so too," Charlie replied before calling the pizza place.

The pizza was delivered a short while later and it actually turned out to be pretty good. Once the dishes were washed and Charlie was settled in watching a game, I made my way upstairs. The stress and emotion of the last few days, added to the stress of moving, had really worn me out. I got ready for bed and quickly fell into a thankfully dreamless slumber.

I awoke the next morning to a truly shocking sight - the sun. Since Forks isn't known for its sunshine, I took it as a sign that maybe, just maybe, things would be okay. After showering I made my way downstairs and was surprised to see Charlie sitting at the table eating a bowl of cereal.

"I thought you would be at work by now," I said as I got my own bowl.

"I decided to go in late today," Charlie replied around a bite of cereal.

"Why?" I asked confused.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," he replied a little sheepishly. Charlie stood up and walked over to where I was sitting and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder. I let my head rest against the side of his arm for a minute before looking up at him.

"I'll be fine," I stated.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked as he squatted down to my level.

"Yes, I have lots to do today," I replied.

"Really?" Charlie looked skeptical, and I really couldn't blame him. It's not like there was a lot to do in Forks.

"I have to go grocery shopping, and then I have to shop for some warmer clothes," I explained.

"Well, alright then," Charlie said as he stood up and brought his bowl to the sink. Once the bowl was clean he went to the hook next to the door and picked up his holster. As I watched him I was suddenly struck by how much his concern meant to me. Without a word I walked over and wrapped my arms around him.

"Hey, what's this for?" Charlie asked as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Thank you for waiting for me and making sure I was okay," I said, and then fought the urge to curse when tears filled my eyes.

"Bells, after what you went through there is no way I am _not_ going to worry," Charlie said before kissing the top of my head.

"I love you, Dad," I said I pulled away.

"I love you too, kid," Charlie said as he handed me a Kleenex.

"Thanks," I took the tissue and dried my eyes.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay today?" Charlie asked, and I nodded.

"Alright, well there is money in the cupboard for food, and I am just a phone call away if you need anything."

"Okay," I replied.

"Oh, and the keys for the pickup are over on that hook," Charlie pointed to a hook on the wall next to the cupboard.

"Okay," I replied again. Charlie hesitated like he wasn't sure if he should go or not so I decided to nudge him along.

"Go, Dad. I promise I am fine," I said, more confidently than last time.

"Okay," he sighed as he walked to the door, "Bye, Bells."

"Bye, Dad," I replied and watched him as he slowly made his way to his cruiser.

As soon as he was gone I walked to the cupboard and got the money out of the jar labeled 'food.' I put it in my purse and grabbed the keys off the hook before making my way to the pickup. Charlie drove the police cruiser for work, but kept the pickup truck for when he is off duty. I slid behind the wheel, started the truck and was on my way.

Since I was only buying food for two people, my trip to the Forks Thriftway, the town's grocery store, didn't take long. I still needed warm clothes, but since the only place in town to buy clothes was Forks Outfitters, which was conveniently connected to the grocery store, I decided to wait and try my luck in Port Angeles or Seattle.

Charlie had a wide selection of sweatshirts I knew I could raid if need be, but in the meantime I decided to look in a few of the little gift shops Forks had, in hopes of finding at least one or two shirts. The only problem was that I didn't have any more cash, and there was only one way that I was going to get some. The thought terrified me.

I climbed into the truck and took a deep breath. As much as stepping foot into a bank would make my blood run cold, I knew that I had no choice. I drove slower than normal, but I still ended up parked in front of the bank before I felt ready.

I took another deep breath and got out of the truck; I made it all the way to the front door before I froze. I put my hand on the door, but I couldn't make myself push it open and walk inside.

"Are you going in?" a voice from behind me asked. My hand dropped from the door and I turned to face the person who had spoken. I froze again when I saw the beautiful boy standing there.

The first thing I noticed was his hair, a mess of bronze that I had the sudden urge to run my fingers through. Next I couldn't help but notice his deep, emerald green eyes that were currently staring at me with confusion and annoyance. His skin was pale, which was to be expected given that he lived in Forks, but that just caused his eyes to stand out even more. The black t-shirt and dark blue jeans he wore clung to a muscular, well-toned body. When I realized I had been staring for longer than was polite I blushed and ducked my head.

"No," I said, answering his earlier question before stepping around him and hauling ass to the truck. From the safety of the truck I saw him shake his head and walk into the bank.

I pushed thoughts of the beautiful boy to the back of my head and decided to go home. I never did get any money, so there was no use staying in town to shop. Once home I quickly put the groceries away and went up to my room to find a book to read. It wasn't long before images of green eyes and bronze hair swam in my head and distracted me. After I read the same sentence five times in a row I decided to give up on the idea of reading. Instead I ended up cleaning the house, and by the time Charlie got home it sparkled from top to bottom.

"Hey Bells," Charlie called when he walked into the house.

"Hi Dad," I said. I walked into the kitchen and watched him take off his holster and hang it on the hook.

"Did you get everything done today that you wanted to?" he asked.

"Yep," I replied. I decided not to mention my freeze-up at the bank and my run in with the handsome stranger. Neither would sit well with Charlie.

"Good. We are leaving for the Blacks' in one hour," he said, turning on the TV to check the score of a game.

"Alright," I said, trying to hide my dismay at spending the night with Jacob. I spent the next hour showering and changing my clothes. Changing my clothes meant throwing on one of the few sweatshirts I did own over my t-shirt. It was best to make sure Jacob couldn't see any curves; no need to give him more ideas than he already had.

The ride to the reservation was a quiet one. Charlie and I weren't big talkers, so idle chit chat didn't really happen with us. We pulled up to the Blacks' little red house, and I had to suppress the urge to groan when I saw Jacob outside waiting for us.

"Be nice," Charlie warned, sensing my mood.

"Fine," I replied as I shoved the door open. As soon as I stepped out of the truck Jacob hurried over and threw his arms around me.

"I'm sorry about your mom," he said.

"Thank you," I replied as I gently hugged him back. Jacob held on a little longer than I was comfortable with, by finally let go when Charlie cleared his throat.

"Let's go inside," Jacob said as grabbed my hand and pulled me inside. Billy was at the stove finishing dinner, and when he saw us walk in he dropped what he was doing and came over to great us.

"Hey Bella," he said as I leaned down to hug him. Billy was injured in a car accident and has been in a wheelchair for as long as I can remember.

"Hi Billy," I replied.

"I'm so sorry about Renee," he said.

"Thank you," I replied.

"She was a great woman, I'll miss her." I just nodded at his comment, afraid that if I spoke the tears would start again. Charlie and Billy greeted each other before Billy went back to finish dinner. It wasn't long before we were all sitting down to a dinner of fried fish. Billy had used his friend Harry's fish fry recipe, so it was really good.

"Are you excited for school to start?" Billy asked me as we finished dinner.

"Um, I guess," I replied. School would start in a week and truth be told I really wasn't looking forward to being the new girl.

"Charlie, are you going to let her use your truck to get to and from school?" Billy asked.

"That's the plan," Charlie replied.

"Well, I was thinking. If Bella wanted, she could have my old truck," Billy said smiling at me, and I nearly choked on the sip of water I had been taking.

"Are you serious?" I asked. Charlie's truck was fine, but it would be really nice to have something of my own.

"Sure. It's not like I am going to use it, and Jacob has been bugging me to let him rebuild a car for when he starts to drive," Billy explained.

"This is very generous of you," Charlie said.

"You two are practically family, and you have been through hell. It's the least I can do," Billy said in a more serious tone. I got up and walked over to where Billy was sitting and hugged him.

"Thank you so much," I said.

"You are very welcome," he replied.

"I'll get the keys," Jacob said. After about five minutes of digging through a kitchen drawer, Jacob came back to the table with the keys and dropped them in my hand. I quickly shoved them in my pocket and started picking up the dirty dishes on the table.

"Since you are giving me a truck the least I can do is take care of the dishes," I said.

"I'll help," Jacob said with way too much enthusiasm. So while I washed the dishes and Jacob dried, our fathers watched baseball in the next room. When everything was clean everybody went out to the small garage the Blacks have to look at my new truck. It was old, which I knew, and it was a beast. I loved it, and I knew if I ever got into an accident this thing would come out without a scratch.

Charlie had to work early the next day, so after thanking the Blacks again and saying our goodbyes, Charlie went up front to his truck while I got into mine. I started it up, and it was louder than I expected, but I knew I would get used to it quickly. I waved to Billy and Jacob as I pulled out of the garage and followed Charlie down the street.

As I drove home I couldn't help but think that school would be just a little better now that I had my own truck.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thank you to Xx-BMSC-xX, Rebadams7, the captains wife, sujari6 for taking the time to review the last chapter. I love hearing what you have to say. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW :) **


	4. Chapter 4

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 4

The following week passed quickly, and before I knew it I was trying desperately to get some sleep the night before the first day of school. Nerves about the first day with unfamiliar teachers and students had set in, and sleep was proving impossible. Finally, after much tossing and turning, I managed to wear myself out and drift off. My rest was short-lived, however, as I woke from a nightmare just a few hours later.

It was always the same; me sitting outside the bank, the sound of gunshots and the Nomad running out of the bank. In my dream, though, the Nomad doesn't keep running. Instead he turns to face me, pulls his gun out and aims it at my head. I always wake with a choked-back scream when he pulls the trigger. Once I realized where I was I got up and had a drink of water to calm myself. Once I was calmed down and back in bed I feel asleep quickly.

Morning came way too fast, and I had to drag myself out of bed to scramble and get ready for school. Not the best way to start my first day there. Charlie was already gone when I finally made it downstairs. We had talked the night before, and Charlie told me he had planned to go into work late so he could be here to see me off on my first day off school. I assured him that wasn't necessary and that I would be fine on my own, and thankfully he agreed without an argument. I knew that between my usual morning crankiness and my anxiety about the first day I would not be a very pleasant person to be around and didn't want Charlie to worry needlessly.

I grabbed a granola bar and washed it down with a glass of juice before heading out the door to my truck. I really did love the truck, and driving it was the only about this morning I had been looking forward to. The engine roared to life and I was on my way. It didn't take me long to get to school, and once there I was lucky enough to find a parking spot right outside the office.

The looks of sympathy I got from Mrs. Cope, the woman who worked in the office, didn't surprise me. Forks is a small town, so everyone was already well aware of the reason I was here. After some paperwork I left the office with my new schedule in hand and made my way to my first class. I was forced to endure many stares and hushed whispers on the short walk. It seems I was the center of attention, but nobody was brave enough to approach me. Like I said, it was a small town and a death such as my mother's wasn't something they were accustomed to dealing with. In short, nobody knew how to approach the girl whose mother had been murdered. One girl, I think her name was Jessica, came up to me in Spanish.

"Hi," she said with a nervous giggle.

"Hi," I replied, trying to seem friendly. As soon as the word left my mouth she hurried over to where a friend of hers was waiting and they began whispering furiously. Apparently she was trying to be brave had been dared by her friend to come and talk to me. It probably should have bothered me more than it did, but after what I'd been through recently, bitchy girls and high school drama no longer seemed important.

After Spanish I made my way to the cafeteria where I picked up a sandwich and an apple for lunch. I scanned the cafeteria and quickly realized I had nowhere to sit. Every table already had at least once person at it, and I wasn't brave enough yet to approach anyone. One thing was for sure, though; I was definitely going to avoid the table in center of the cafeteria. Jessica and her blonde bombshell of a friend were sitting there, along with two guys I assumed were their boyfriends. A boy with sandy blonde hair had his arm draped around Jessica, while a muscular guy with curly brown hair was busy sucking the face off of the blonde.

I was pulled out of my musings when a chair from the table closest to me was pushed out in front of me. I glanced over and nearly dropped my plastic tray when I saw who was sitting at the table. It was the beautiful boy from the bank.

"Do you want to sit?" he asked and pointed to the chair he had pushed toward me with his foot.

"Um, sure," I squeaked as I set my tray on the table and sat down.

"Thank you," I said after a minute.

"You're welcome," he replied before going back to his food. I knew I should be quiet so he could eat, but his looks and my nerves forced me into a rambling babble.

"I'm sorry about last week at the bank," I said as a blush of embarrassment graced my cheeks.

"Don't worry about it," he replied.

"It's just," I said, still not able to shut up and eat, "you seemed kind of annoyed".

"I was," he agreed, "but I'm not anymore."

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Well, now that I know who you are, I get it," he said before taking a bite of his cookie.

"Get what?" I asked.

"If I had gone through what you went through, I wouldn't be able to set foot in a bank either," he explained.

"I really thought I could do it," I whispered.

"You will," he reassured me, "it will just take time."

"I guess," I said, then decided to change the topic. "So, you know who I am, but I don't know who you are."

"Edward. Edward Masen," he replied.

"It's nice to meet you, Edward," I said. I wasn't about to admit just how nice it was.

"It's nice to meet you too, Isabella," he said.

"Just Bella," I corrected, "Isabella is way too formal for me."

"Alright. Just Bella it is then," he said with a smile that made my heart flutter. We went back to eating, and a few minutes later he looked up and scowled at something behind me. I turned in my chair to see what had upset him and saw blonde bombshell and the curly haired guy. They appeared to be eating each other's faces for lunch. I really couldn't blame Edward for being irritated; if I had to look at that while eating I would probably lose my appetite.

"Classy," I mumbled as I turned back around.

"Isn't it?" Edward said with a smirk.

"Are they always like that?" I asked.

"If you mean joined at the lips, then yes," Edward replied with an eye roll.

"Does anybody ever say anything to them about it?" I asked.

"Nope, Rose is pretty scary when she wants to be," he said.

"Rose?" I asked.

"Rosalie Hale. The female half of that creature over there," he answered.

"Oh. I had a little run-in with her and the brown-haired girl," I said, thinking back to Spanish, "Jessica, right?"

"Yeah. What kind of run-in exactly?" Edward asked.

"Well, I think Rosalie must have dared Jessica to come and talk to me. Jessica came over and said 'hi,' I said 'hi' back, and then Jessica ran back over to Rosalie. They spent the rest of Spanish whispering about it," I explained, rolling my eyes.

"Bitches," Edward mumbled. I didn't disagree.

"I'm sorry about them," Edward said, "You didn't deserve that."

"It's alright," I said, shrugging it off.

"No, it's really not," Edward said. Edward looked like he was ready to go over and let them have it, so I decided to distract him.

"Who are the guys?" I asked.

"Um, the guy with the blonde hair is Mike," Edward replied, and I was grateful his anger seemed to be dying down. The last thing I wanted was for a fight to break out because of me.

"Are he and Jessica together?" I asked.

"Sort of," he said.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"It means their entire relationship consists of Jessica ordering Mike around, and Mike following her around like a lost puppy. Not the healthiest relationship, but it works for them I guess," he explained.

"Wow," I replied not really knowing what else to say.

"Yeah," Edward agreed, "the other guy is Emmett McCarty."

"I am going to make a leap here and assume he is with Rosalie, and their relationship is a physical one?"

"You are clearly gifted in the art of observation," Edward said with a smirk, and I chuckled.

"It never ceases to amaze me that I am related to a guy like that," Edward said, shaking his head.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Emmett is my cousin," Edward explained.

"Seriously?" I asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, yes," he said.

"You two look nothing alike," I said, looking back at Emmett. Emmett with his curly brown hair and Edward with his messy bronze hair could not be more different.

"Yeah I know. I think it's because we both look more like our dads," Edward said.

"So are your moms sisters?" I asked. Edward nodded and then became very interested in the food left on his plate. Clearly there was more going in with his mom and Emmett's, but it wasn't my business and I wasn't going pry. I glanced up at the clock and noticed that there were only ten minutes left of lunch, and I really wanted to run to the bathroom before my next class.

"I'm going to run to the bathroom before the bell rings," I said as I stood up and grabbed my tray, "but thank you so much for asking me to sit with you."

"No problem," Edward said, "You can sit with me again tomorrow, if you want."

"That would be great," I replied with a smile.

"Great," Edward said with a smile of his own.

"Bye," I said.

"Bye," Edward replied. After throwing my trash away I made way to my bathroom. I finished quickly and started to walk to my next class, which was Biology.

As I walked I thought back to my lunch with Edward. Despite his intimidating good looks, I found myself as ease when I was with him. Our conversation was easy, and he actually made me laugh, something I hadn't done a lot of lately. Most of all he was nice. He didn't tiptoe around me, he just accepted me, and I really needed that right now.

I walked into biology and made my way over to the teacher's desk. I took the sheet out of my bag that Mrs. Cope had given me for the teachers to sign and handed it to him.

"Um, I'm Bella Swan," I said.

"Welcome, Miss. Swan. I am Mr. Banner," the teacher replied as he signed the sheet.

"We seem to have one open seat left in the class, next to Mr. Masen over there," Mr. Banner pointed to a table where Edward was sitting. Edward was reading a book and had his head down so he hadn't noticed me.

"Why don't you go take your seat and I will get you a textbook," Mr. Banner said.

"Thanks Mr. Banner," I said, and took the sheet he had finished signing. I couldn't help but smile a little at the thought of sitting next to Edward again.

"Hello again," I said as I sat down. Edward looked up and after a moment of shock, he smiled.

"Hi," he replied.

"I hope you don't mind sharing your table," I said.

"If I must," he said with a dramatic sigh.

"You must," I replied.

"It might be nice to have a lab partner," Edward said. Mr. Banner came over before we could say anything else and handed me a textbook.

"I'm glad to see that you two are already getting along so well," Mr. Banner said, "Edward, I expect you to help Bella out if she has any questions."

"Yes, sir," Edward replied. With a nod Mr. Banner walked back to front of the room to begin today's lesson.

While Mr. Banner talked I glanced over at Edward and smiled. When he glanced at me and smiled in return I realized that Biology was definitely going to be my favorite class.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to Xx-BMSC-xX, the captains wife, sujari6, BwithUforever, sandy4321 for taking the time to leave a review. Did any of you guys watch the People's Choice Awards? Rob looked pretty good with his buzzed hair! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 5

The time in Biology seemed to fly, and before I knew it I was in gym. Gym was going to be a nightmare, I could just tell. I am the most uncoordinated person in the world, so games that required hand-eye coordination were going to be a problem. Not for me, but for the people who were forced to play with me.

Luckily, since it was my first day, I wasn't required to play. Instead I spent the class sitting in the bleachers watching the others play volleyball. Tomorrow, though, I would be forced to play, and I knew at least some unfortunate soul in my class was going home with a bump on their head, thanks to me. The bell rang, and I made my way to the office to turn in the paper with the teachers' signatures on it.

"How was your first day?" Mrs. Cope asked.

"Fine," I replied. It had started out horrible, but Edward had definitely turned things around. Mrs. Cope didn't need to know that though.

"Good," she said looking pleased.

"Have a nice night," I said while backing away from the desk.

"You too, Miss Swan," she replied. With that I turned and walked out the door, more than a little relieved that the day was finally over. Most of the cars were already gone when I made it to the parking lot, so I was able to quickly get into my truck and leave. It began to rain on the ride home, and I was thankful that my windshield wipers worked. I hadn't thought to check those before, and who knows what might not work on my old tank.

Once home I got a jump start on my homework. I had always been in the top five percent of the class in Phoenix, so I wanted to stay caught up with everything here. An hour later, after I had done all that I could for school, I started dinner. It wasn't fancy, just spaghetti with garlic bread and a salad. The noodles and sauce were on the stove, the bread was in the oven, and I was cutting vegetables for the salad when Charlie came home.

"Hey Bells," he said as walked through the door.

"Hey," I replied.

"Smells good," he commented as he hung up his gun.

"Thanks, it's almost ready," I said.

"Great. So, how was your first day?" he asked.

"It was fine," I replied.

"Just fine?" he asked.

"It was school, what did you expect?" I asked, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point," Charlie said as he got a beer from the fridge. "Did you make any friends?"

"Um, yeah one," I replied. I wasn't sure if I wanted to tell Charlie about Edward. I don't know how he would react to me being friends with a guy, although if he was okay with me hanging out with the pervert Jacob, maybe he wouldn't care about other boys. Edward was way different then Jacob, though. Edward was my age and he was extremely attractive. I was lost in these thoughts when a sharp pain registered in my hand.

"Shit!" I swore. The knife I had been using had slipped and sliced my finger.

"Bells!" Charlie hurried over, looking alarmed.

"I sliced my finger," I said as I held up the now dripping finger.

"That looks pretty deep," Charlie said, examining it, "You are probably going to need stitches." I just nodded because blood always made me dizzy, and this was no exception. Charlie must have sensed this, because he pulled a towel out of the drawer and covered my finger with it.

"Hold this on your finger. The pressure should help with the bleeding," he explained as he grabbed the keys to his truck, "We have to go to the emergency room." Again I just nodded as I attempted to fight off the nausea. Even if I couldn't see the blood I could still smell it, and the rusty smell was getting to me.

Charlie turned off the stove and oven and pulled the bread out before helping me out to his truck. I knew Charlie was worried but he said nothing on the drive there. I spent the drive with my head resting on the window, the cold glass felt good and helped with the nausea. Charlie drive quickly and we made it the hospital in no time. Charlie helped me out of the truck and into the ER, obviously aware of my intolerance for blood.

"Hey Chief," the nurse at the desk said.

"Hey Maggie," Charlie replied, "My daughter cut her finger and I think she might need stitches."

"Alright," Maggie said as she picked up a clipboard, "I have some forms for you to fill out and while you are doing that I will take your daughter to an exam room."

"Thank you," Charlie said gratefully. Maggie handed Charlie the clipboard and then came around the desk to where I was standing.

"Come on, sweetie," she said as took my arm and led me to a room. Once I was settled on a bed Maggie removed the towel from my finger. As soon as the towel was lifted I looked away, knowing if I saw the blood I would hit the floor, and that was the last thing I needed right now.

"Well, your dad was right. You are most definitely going to need stitches," Maggie said.

"Great," I moaned.

"Don't worry. I'll go get a doctor and it will be over before you know it," Maggie said with a reassuring pat on my shoulder. She left the room, and because I couldn't look at my finger I was forced to stare at the posters on the wall. In my line of vision I could clearly see the poster of the inside of the ear that seems to be in every doctor's office. By the time the doctor entered the room I knew more about the ear than I wanted to.

All thoughts of the ear were knocked out of my head when I saw the doctor. Being as clumsy as I am, I have seen my share of doctors. But I have never had a doctor as attractive as this one. This doctor was young, with blond hair and piercing blue eyes. McDreamy and McSteamy had nothing on this guy.

"Hello, Miss. Swan. I'm Dr. Cullen," he said as he walked over to the bed where I was sitting.

"Hello," I said quietly as he put on gloves.

"Let's take a look," he said as he gently picked up my hand. While he examined my finger I tried my best to sit still because the paper I was sitting on was annoyingly loud.

"This doesn't look too bad. It shouldn't need more than three stitches," he announced.

"Okay," I replied. He could have said I needed a lobotomy and I probably would have said "okay."

"I'm just going to give you something for the pain before I begin," he explained as he picked up a needle from a tray.

"Um…alright," I stuttered as looked at needle. I was terrified of needles.

"It helps to look away," he said. I have noticed over the years that all doctors say this and it's bullshit. A needle piercing your skin hurts whether you are looking or not.

I looked away anyway. I had to resist the urge to swear when I felt him poke the needle in my finger right next to the cut. Luckily the medicine took affect quickly and my hand was numb a minute later. I continued to look as Dr. Cullen went to work on my hand and tried to ignore the tugging I felt as he stitched.

A few minutes later he was finished and I breathed a sigh of relief. After my finger was bandaged I jumped down from the table, and of course my lack of coordination caught up with me and I stumbled. Dr. Cullen caught me before I hit the floor.

"Careful there," he said as he steadied me.

"Sorry, I'm a complete klutz," I said as my face heated in embarrassment, "Tripping and stumbling are daily occurrences for me."

"Not need to apologize," he said with a friendly smile.

"You'll probably see me again soon for some other injury," I admitted jokingly.

"Well, as long as you are more careful with knives, we should be okay," he said.

"I'll try," I promised.

"Good. Now, you won't need to come back in to get the stitches removed, they should dissolve on their own," he explained.

"Okay," I replied.

"Take Tylenol or Advil for any pain," he continued, "and come back in if the wound begins to bleed or look infected."

"Alright," I said.

"Well then, you are free to go. It was nice to meet you, Miss. Swan," he said as he opened the door.

"Nice to meet you too, Dr. Cullen," I replied before he left the room. I walked back to the waiting room and found Charlie looking at a People Magazine from about three months ago.

"How did it go?" he asked when he saw me.

"Three stitches," I said and held up my hand.

"How about if we go _out_ to dinner," Charlie said as he wrapped he arm around my shoulder and led me out of the hospital.

"Sounds great," I replied, knowing my dinner was freezing cold on the kitchen counter.

We ate at the local diner, I had a burger and Charlie had steak. When we got home I took an Advil because my hand was no longer numb and actually really hurt. Charlie took pity on me and took care of the dishes from the spoiled dinner so I could go up to bed. The stress of the day had really worn me out, and I was asleep within minutes. I only awoke once that night and it was because I had rolled on top of my bad hand in my sleep. No dreams.

The next morning I woke feeling more refreshed than I had the day before. Charlie was gone when I finally made my way down stairs, and I was happy that I wouldn't be forced to make small talk before I was even fully awake.

The rain had stopped, so the drive to school was problem free. After pulling into the parking lot I carefully grabbed my bag. The last thing I wanted was to rip open my stitches. Blood and another trip to the ER was not the way I wanted to start my day.

The morning flew by, and thankfully Jessica and Rosalie left me alone.

Edward was waiting for me at the same table at lunch, so after making my way through the line I went to join him.

"Hey," I said when I sat down.

"Hi," he replied.

"How has your day been so far?" I asked.

"Not too bad," he replied, "how about yours?"

"Not bad. I didn't have to tolerate any conversations with those two," I said pointing to Rosalie and Jessica, "so it was good."

"I'm glad they left you alone," he said.

"Me too," I replied with a smile as picked at my apple.

"What happened to your hand?" Edward asked as he noticed the bandage.

"I was cutting vegetables last night, got distracted, and the knife slipped. I sliced my finger," I explained, "I had to get three stitches."

"Ouch," Edward said, "I've always known vegetables were bad for you," he said with a smirk, and I couldn't help but giggle. The lunch period passed by quicker than I would have liked with us talking and ignoring the make-out session that was once again going on behind us. Before I knew it, we were picking up our trays and heading towards the trash can.

Since we knew we were going to the same place today, Edward and I walked to Biology together. We sat down in our seats just as the bell rang.

Mr. Banner spent the class period talking about a project that we were going to start. Edward and I would be working together and I was thrilled at the prospect of spending more time with him. When class was over and we were packing up our books Edward turned to me.

"When do you want to get started on the project?" he asked.

"Um, how about this weekend?" I asked.

"Sounds good. We could work on it at my house if you like," he said.

"Alright," I replied, "How about Friday?"

"I can't on Friday. I have to babysit my sister," he replied.

"You have a sister?" I asked, intrigued to learn something new about Edward.

"Yep. Her name is Alice, and she is nine years old," he explained. When Edward spoke I could clearly see the love he had for his baby sister in his eyes.

"It's nice that you babysit her," I said, "Most teenagers think they are too cool to babysit their younger siblings."

"Alice and I are close, and I love spending time with her, so I don't mind babysitting," Edward shrugged.

"I think that is great," I said with a smile, "So Friday is out, how about Saturday?"

"Perfect," Edward replied.

"We can talk more about it at lunch tomorrow," I said as I glanced at the clock and noticed we were running late.

"Okay," Edward replied and we hurried out of the room. When I got to gym I realized there was an upside to stitches - they got me out of playing volleyball. I got to sit on the bleachers and watch again, and my fellow classmates were spared from the bodily harm that I was sure to cause.

The rest of the week passed by without incident. Edward and I ate lunch and walked to Biology together, and I did what I could to avoid Rosalie and Jessica. I noticed Edward in the hall a couple of times, and after a few days I realized that he never talked to anyone. It appeared that he, like me, had no friends. It made me sad, and I was curious as to why, but it wasn't my place to ask. All I knew was that now that I was here, he had at least one friend and that made me happy.

Edward and I agreed that he would pick me up and drive me to his house. Edward had explained that his house was kind of hard to find so it would just be easier for him to pick me up. I didn't argue because, knowing me, I would have gotten lost.

My dad was out fishing with Billy on Saturday, so I didn't have to worry about him when Edward came to pick me up. I still hadn't told Charlie about Edward, and it would have been awkward for him to be here when Edward arrived. All Charlie knew was that I was going to a friend's house to work on a school project.

I was just slipping on my shoes when I saw Edward pull up in front of our house. I grabbed my bag and light jacket and headed out the door. Edward was walking up the sidewalk when I stepped out, and he smiled when he saw me.

"Ready to go?" he asked.

"Yep," I replied. Edward drove a Volvo. It was shiny and silver, and one of the nicest cars I had seen in Forks. He held the door open for me.

"Thanks," I said as I slid into the passenger's seat.

"Is your dad home?" Edward asked he slid into the driver's seat and started the car.

"No, he is out fishing with his friend Billy," I explained as he backed out of the driveway. We were silent for the rest of the ride, and I watched as the trees blurred by the window. I knew Edward was right; his house would have been very hard to find. We had been driving through the woods for a while when Edward finally turned onto a small road that, unless you knew it was there, you would miss.

"Your house is really hidden," I observed.

"I know," he replied, "We like our privacy." I nodded because I liked my privacy too, and it was hard to come by in a small town. Edward's house was beautiful, it was white, three stories and had a big wraparound porch. Edward stopped in the driveway and we climbed out of the car.

"Your house is beautiful," I said as we walked up the porch steps.

"Thanks,' he replied.

Once we reached the top Edward opened the front door and ushered me inside. Once we had taken our shoes off and put them on a mat next to the door, I looked up and my mouth hung open. The huge living room was so open and light, with big windows on the back wall. There were big, plush couches that I thought looked perfect for curling up on with a good book or for a nap.

"We can go up and work on my computer," Edward said, breaking me from my study of the room.

"Alright," I said as we walked over to a big curving staircase. Just as we were about to start up the stairs a man appeared at the top, and I gasped in surprise. Standing at the top of the staircase was Dr. Cullen.

My shock quickly cleared and I was left with confusion. _I thought Edward had said his last name was Masen?_

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to Xx-BMSC-xX, sujari6, sandy4321, Elizabeth142 for taking the time to review it means alot. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 6

As Dr. Cullen continued his descent down the staircase I looked quickly from him to Edward. Confusion was no doubt etched in my face, but I didn't speak up. Edward's family was his business, and since we barely knew each other there was no reason for him to explain anything to me. _He could be his stepfather_, I thought. I had one of my own, and it wasn't really that uncommon. For some reason that didn't feel right, though. Something, maybe intuition, told me there was more to the story. But whatever that story was, it was Edward's and I wasn't about to push him into telling me. The only reason he knew so much about me was because I was new, the town was small, and everyone in it loved to gossip. Truth be told, I don't know if I would have talked to him about my mom if he hadn't already known about it. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts as Dr. Cullen reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped in front of us.

"Hello again, Miss Swan," Dr Cullen said.

"Hello Dr. Cullen," I replied shyly.

"I guess you weren't kidding when you said I would see you soon," he joked.

"I guess not," I replied as I felt a blush creep up on my checks.

"Um, what's going on?" Edward asked as confusion graced his beautiful face.

"I gave Bella her stitches," Dr. Cullen said as he pointed to my hand.

"Oh," Edward replied, "Why did you say you would see him soon?"

"I'm clumsy. It was only going to be a matter of time before I ended up at the hospital again," I explained with a shrug because it was true.

"So, what are you two up to?" Dr. Cullen asked, thankfully dropping the subject of my lack of coordination.

"Biology project," Edward answered.

"Well then I'd better let you get to it," Dr Cullen said as he moved to the side so we could walk past him.

"It was nice to see you again Miss. Swan," Dr. Cullen said as we walked past him.

"It was nice to see you too, Dr. Cullen," I replied.

"Seeing as we are no longer in the hospital I think it's okay if you call me Carlisle," Dr. Cullen said with a smile.

"Alright," I replied, "as long as you call me Bella." The Miss Swan thing was getting kind of old. I was just plain old Bella, and it suited me just fine.

"Deal," he replied before disappearing into another room.

Edward and I were silent as we made our way up the stairs. When we reached the top Edward led me down the hall and opened the door at the very end.

"So…this is my room," Edward said, and when I looked at him I could have sworn he had a slight blush on his checks. Edward's room, like the rest of the house, was impressive. Like the Living Room, one of his walls was made entirely of glass. Another was filled with shelf after shelf of CDs. Edward's bed with the dark blue and white striped comforter was pushed up against the third wall, and his desk was next to that. There was a door next to the desk that I assumed led into a closet. The walls were painted a light blue and they were covered with posters of his favorite bands.

"I like it," I replied when I was done surveying the room. Edward smiled and we made our way over to his desk.

"Have a seat," Edward said as he pulled out his desk chair. I did as I was told and Edward perched on the edge of his bed.

"So you must be confused," he said.

"Why?" I asked, confused as to why I should be confused.

"Because my last name is Masen, and Carlisle's is Cullen," Edward explained. I had actually kind of forgotten about that until now. It didn't escape my notice that Edward had just called Carlisle "Carlisle," and not "dad."

"Oh yeah, that," I said, "I was a little confused, but it's your business and you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, you are my friend and I want to tell you," Edward said as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck, "It's just hard."

"Take your time," I replied.

"Okay, well I'll start by saying Carlisle is my uncle," Edward began.

"Is he Emmett's dad?" I asked, hoping he wasn't.

"No, Emmett's mom, my mom, and Carlisle's wife are all sisters," Edward explained. I nodded in understanding and Edward took that as a cue to continue.

"Carlisle and his wife Esme, my aunt, took Alice and I in when our parents died," he continued.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. I reached over and gently squeezed his hand in what I hoped was a reassuring manner.

"When did this happen?" I asked.

"Five years ago," Edward answered, "I was 12 and Alice was only 4."

"What happened?" I asked, "Again, you don't have tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to," Edward said, "I just don't talk about it a lot, so it's difficult."

"I understand," I replied, and I did. It was hard to talk about my mom and I figured it always would be. Edward nodded before he began.

"We lived in Chicago. My dad, Edward Sr., was a lawyer and my mom, Elizabeth, was a teacher. Carlisle and Esme lived in Chicago, too. Carlisle worked at the hospital and Esme is an interior decorator. Emmett and his parents, Emily and Ryan, have always lived here in Forks. We only saw Aunt Em and Uncle Ryan at holidays, and when we were together Emmett and I got along for the most part. We've never really had anything in common."

"Shocking," I snorted. Edward laughed and shook his head as if to clear it.

"I'm getting off topic. It was January when my parents died. I woke up in the middle of the night with really bad stomach pain. I remember it was so bad I had to call for my parents because I couldn't get up. My mom and dad ran into the room, my mom took my temperature, and it was really high so she called Carlisle. Carlisle said he thought I had appendicitis and they should get me to the hospital right away. My dad took Alice to the neighbors and then three of us started for the hospital." Edward had to stop and take a breath at that point and I knew the worst was just ahead.

"It was snowing really hard and the roads were awful. We were coming up to a stop light and it was red so my dad started to brake, but it was too icy. The car wouldn't stop. I remember hearing the grinding sound when the car slid on the ice and went into the intersection. It was the city, so even though it was the middle of the night there were still other cars on the road. There was another car in the intersection when we lost control, and we hit them head on."

"That is awful," I said as I fought back tears. The last thing Edward needed right now was my tears.

"My parents died instantly, and I was knocked unconscious. When I woke up I was minus my appendix and my parents. Carlisle was there and he told me what had happened, and Esme had gone to our neighbor's house to pick up Alice."

"Poor Alice, she was so young I bet she had a hard time understanding what was going on," I said.

"Yeah she did, and she became very clingy with me for a while after the accident. I couldn't be out of her sight for a long period of time or she would freak, and she slept in my bed a lot. I know it probably wasn't healthy but we were all that was left of our immediate family and we clung to each other. Gradually it got better and Alice and I are okay now."

"I get that," I sighed, "My dad is all I have left, and sometimes it is hard to be away from him." Edward nodded and squeezed my hand. I had become so engrossed in Edward's story that I hadn't even realized we were still holding hands.

"How did you guys end up in Forks?" I asked.

"Well, Carlisle and Esme though it would be beneficial for Alice and I to be closer to Emily, Ryan and Emmett. They also thought we could use a fresh start away from Chicago. They were right about the fresh start, but nothing good came out of being closer to Emily, Ryan, and Emmett," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked, then cursed myself when Edward grimaced.

"Emily took my mom's death really hard and blamed me for the whole thing. As if that wasn't bad enough, she got Ryan and Emmett to believe it, too. Esme has done everything she can to convince her sister that is wasn't my fault, but she won't listen. We would have moved again, but I don't think Carlisle and Esme wanted uproot us again."

"You don't blame yourself, do you?" I asked.

"Some days I do," he replied quietly.

"Edward, you were a kid and you were very sick. Your parents were doing what any good parent would do, getting you to the hospital. It was nothing more than an accident. A tragic accident, but an accident. You don't control the weather or appendicitis, so don't blame yourself."

"It's not that simple, Bella. Logically I know it's not my fault, but sometimes it's hard to believe," Edward explained, "Do you blame yourself for your mother's death?" His question took me off guard, but I answered honestly. After everything Edward had shared with me, how could I not be honest with him?

"Yes," I said.

"Even though you know it really wasn't your fault?" he asked. I nodded as the tears I was trying to hold in slipped free.

"So you know how I feel," Edward said.

"I guess," I sniffed, "But what can we do?"

"We have to work on letting go of our guilt, I guess," Edward replied.

"Maybe we can work on that together," I said as I wiped my tears away.

"I'd like that," Edward replied as he tugged on my hand so I was forced to stand. Edward wrapped his arms around me and slowly my arms made their way around him. For the few minutes that we held each other I felt safe and warm as if nothing could ever hurt me again.

"Thank you for telling me your story Edward," I said when we pulled apart.

"You're welcome. Like I said, I wanted to," Edward replied with a shy smile.

"Can I ask one question?" I asked.

"Sure," Edward said uncertainly.

"Do you know what happened to the people in the other car?" I asked quietly.

"They didn't tell me much. All I know is that there were two people in the car, and only one survived," he said somberly.

"God, how awful all around," I said.

"I know," Edward sighed. We were silent for a moment before my cell phone rang and broke through the quiet.

"Sorry," I apologized as I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

"No problem," Edward said.

"Hello?" I said answering the phone.

"Hey Bells," Charlie said, "I know that you are working on a school project, but Billy and I caught enough fish for a fish fry and I was hoping you'd join us."

"In La Push?" I asked.

"Yeah," Charlie replied. I sighed. I really had no desire to spend part of the weekend with Jacob, but Charlie sounded so excited that I knew I couldn't say no.

"Alright. I'll be there soon," I answered.

"Great. Bye Bells," Charlie said before he hung up.

"Bye Dad," I said, and ended the call.

"I have to go," I said to Edward as I slipped the phone back in my pocket.

"Is everything okay?" Edward asked, clearly picking up on my disappointed mood.

"Yeah, my dad and his friend Billy went fishing today, and I guess they caught enough for a fish fry, so my dad wants me there," I explained.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Edward replied.

"No, but it means I have to spend the night with Billy's son, Jacob," I said and scowled.

"What is wrong with Jacob?" Edward asked.

"He is a little pervert," I said.

"Why?" Edward asked, looking slightly amused.

"I caught him peeking on me while I was changing once," I said.

"Wait. He did that, and your dad, the police chief, still lets him go anywhere near you?" Edward asked.

"Charlie thinks Jacob is harmless," I said with a roll of my eyes, "I disagree."

"I'm with you on that one," Edward said.

"Thank you," I replied, thankful to have someone on my side.

"Well, I should get you home," Edward said and I reluctantly nodded. We went back downstairs and found our shoes by the front door.

"So, where is Alice?" I asked as we put our shoes on.

"She had a play date with her friend Kate today," Edward explained.

"Oh, well I hope I get the chance to meet her soon," I said.

"I'm sure you will. We got nothing done on our project today, so you will have to come back to work on it," Edward said.

"We weren't very productive today, were we?" I agreed.

"Well, not in regards to biology," Edward replied.

"What are we going to do?" I asked.

"Do you think you could come back over tomorrow?" Edward asked.

"Sure," I replied.

"Great. We better go before your dad starts to worry," Edward said as he opened the front door. We got into his car and began the journey back to my house. We got there more quickly than I would have liked, because I wasn't ready for my time with Edward to end.

"So I'll pick you tomorrow at noon," Edward said as he opened my car door, "If that's okay?"

"That is fine," I replied, "Um, you might have to meet Charlie though, cause I think he will be home tomorrow."

"Okay," Edward replied, looking a little nervous.

"It's okay, I won't let him shoot you or anything," I assured him.

"Oh, well that is comforting," Edward answered.

"It will be fine, I promise," I said, sounding braver than I felt. I don't know why we were nervous. It's not like we were going on a date or anything.

"Alright," Edward sighed.

"Okay, well I really should go," I said as I walked over to my truck.

"I'll see you tomorrow," Edward called as he walked back to the driver's side of his car.

"See you tomorrow," I called back and climbed into my truck. Edward waved as he drove by and I watched his car until it disappeared around the corner.

As I started my car I realized my dread about the coming night had been replaced by my excitement for the following day.

**AN: Thanks so much to my beta Jenn! Thank you Xx-BMSC-xX, sujari6, sandy4321, Elizabeth142, the captains wife, WeeHelenxX for taking the time to leave a review it means alot. Thanks also to the person who left a review but not a name, even though I couldn't reply to you, your review was appreciated! PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 7

When I pulled up in front of the Black's house I took a breath to steady myself. The dread that had been pushed to the back of mind resurfaced when the house came into view, and I just kept reminding myself that is was only a few hours. I could handle that. Taking one more deep breath I pushed open the truck door and made my way to the house. I knocked on the door and a moment later the door flew open and there stood Jacob.

"Hi Bella," he said with way too much enthusiasm.

"Hey," I replied.

"Come on in," he said, and instead of waiting for me to walk in he grabbed my arm and pulled me in. Jacob dragged me into the kitchen where our dads were waiting. When Jacob dropped my hand I had to resist the urge to wipe it on my pant leg. The boy had very sweaty hands.

"Hi Bells," my dad said as he stood from the table and walked to where I was standing.

"Hi Dad," I said.

"Did you get much done on your project?" he asked.

"Um, yeah," I replied. No need to mention that we got _nothing_ done. I decided it would be better to talk about my plans for tomorrow later, when we got home. I really didn't want to get into the subject of Edward in front of Billy and Jacob.

"Good," he said, "Well, I hope you are hungry, dinner is almost ready."

"Actually I'm starving," I said, suddenly realizing I was.

"Have a seat while we finish up," Charlie said. I took a seat at the small kitchen table and Jacob quickly sat down next to me. We were silent as our fathers finished getting dinner ready and I was fine with that. I dug in hungrily once the food was placed in front of me. The fish tasted great, and before I knew it I was helping myself to seconds.

As we were eating I felt a foot brush up against mine. I ignored it thinking it had been an accident, but a minute later I felt it again. I looked down and saw Jacob's foot brushing lightly up and down my foot. Without a word I lifted my legs and sat cross legged in my chair.

"So Bella," Billy said, and I turned my attention to him, "don't you have a birthday coming up?"

"Um, yeah, this week actually," I replied. I wasn't a big fan of birthdays and had actually forgotten about this one until Billy brought it up.

"Any big plans?" Billy asked.

"No, not really," I answered. I had finished eating and desperately wanted to get out of the center of attention, so I began collecting dirty dishes.

"You guys cooked, so I will do the dishes," I said.

"I'll help," Jacob said, jumping up. Once again I washed the dishes while Jacob dried. This was becoming way too much of a routine, and I hoped Jacob wouldn't get use to it. Once the dishes were done, Charlie and I said good bye to the Blacks, during which time I had to dodge the kiss Jacob was trying to place on my cheek.

I spent my drive home thinking about how I was going to bring up the subject of Edward to Charlie. Part of me was nervous about how Charlie would react, and another part of me was curious. Being the Police Chief and a member of this small town, Charlie was probably fully aware of what happened to Edward, and I wondered what he thought of the situation.

I pulled up in front of our house and made my way inside. Charlie was just hanging up his coat when I walked through the door. I did the same and took a deep breath to prepare for the upcoming conversation.

"Dad?" I began.

"Yeah, Bells?" Charlie answered.

"I have to get together with my lab partner again tomorrow," I said.

"Okay," Charlie replied absently as he started to take off his boots.

"He is going to pick me up and we are going to go to his house to work on the project," I said.

"He?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah. Um, my lab partner is Edward Masen," I answered.

"Oh," Charlie said, not sounding as displeased as I thought he would, "So you were at his house today?"

"Yeah, and I met his uncle," I said, "Or met him again, I guess, since he stitched up my hand a few days earlier."

"Oh that's right. Dr. Cullen is the one who stitched up your hand, wasn't he?" Charlie asked.

"Yep," I said.

"How much do you know about Edward?" Charlie asked.

"I know about his parents," I replied somberly, "Edward noticed my confusion over him and Dr. Cullen having different last names, and he told me what happened."

"Poor boy," Charlie said with sympathy in his eyes.

"His aunt still holds him responsible. You don't agree with her, do you Dad?" I asked.

"Of course not," Charlie said looking outraged, "I honestly don't understand how she can blame him for something that was clearly out of his control."

"I don't either," I said quietly as I fought to control my own anger.

"I think the two of you being friends is a good thing," Charlie said surprising the hell out of me.

"You do?" I asked not hiding my shock.

"Yes," Charlie said with a grin, "I know, me wanting you to be friends with a boy is strange, but from what I know of him, Edward seems like a decent kid who doesn't really have any friends, and I know he would have a good one in you."

"Thanks Dad," I said touched at his praise.

"Do I get to meet him tomorrow?" Charlie asked.

"Only if you promise to meet him unarmed," I replied.

"Excuse me?" Charlie asked, looking slightly amused.

"Edward was afraid to meet you because he knows you carry a gun," I explained, which only caused Charlie's grin to widen.

"Smart boy," Charlie replied.

"Dad, please be nice tomorrow?" I pleaded.

"Okay fine," Charlie huffed, "I promise I'll be nice."

"Thank you," I said. I quickly took of my shoes then walked over and kissed Charlie on the check.

"Night, Dad," I said as stifled a yawn.

"Good night Bells," Charlie replied.

Sleep came easily, and before I knew it I was waking up to a surprisingly sunny day in Forks. Once I was showered and dressed, I made my way downstairs and found Charlie eating a bowl of cereal. I grabbed my own bowl and sat down to join him.

"So when is Edward coming to pick you up?" Charlie asked around a mouthful of cereal.

"Noon," I replied.

"Why aren't you driving yourself out to his place?" Charlie asked as he finished his breakfast.

"His house is pretty hard to find, and there is a turnoff I know I would miss," I explained while Charlie bought his bowl to the sink, "This is easier than me getting lost and wasting the whole day."

"I suppose it is," Charlie agreed, "Well, there is a ballgame on that I want to watch."

"Okay," I replied before Charlie left the room. I finished my breakfast and then spent the rest of the morning getting my backpack ready and straightening up my already tidy room. The second I saw Edward's car pull into the driveway I raced down the stairs. Of course, in typical Bella fashion, I nearly tripped and fell on my face.

"Whoa there, Bella, slow down," Charlie said from his place on the couch, "I really don't feel like taking a trip to the emergency room."

"Yeah, me neither," I replied as I slowly walked down the rest of the stairs. The doorbell rang just as I reached the bottom, and I hurried over to open the door. Edward was standing there, cute as ever in his snug jeans and grey sweatshirt.

"Hey," He said with a warm smile.

"Hi," I replied, "Come on in." I held the door open as Edward walked past me and from the corner of my eye I saw Charlie get up off the couch.

"Hello Chief Swan," Edward said politely.

"Charlie," Charlie replied as he held out his hand for Edward to shake.

"Charlie," Edward repeated as he shook the outstretched hand.

"You two are working on a biology project together?" Charlie asked as he and Edward let their hands drop.

"Yes, sir," Edward replied.

"Are your aunt and uncle home today?" Charlie asked.

"Dad!" I said as embarrassment must have shown on my face.

"What? I was teenage boy once, so it's hard for me to trust one around my teenage daughter," he replied.

"My aunt, uncle, and little sister are all home today," Edward said.

"Alright, then have a good time," Charlie said as walked back in the living room.

"Let's go," I said as picked up my bag and slipped on my shoes. As soon as we were in the car on the way to Edward's I turned to him.

"I am really sorry about that," I said, still embarrassed.

"Why? It wasn't so bad," Edward replied.

"Are you kidding?" I asked incredulously.

"No. He is just protective of you, and I can't blame him for that," Edward explained, "and it could have been worse."

"How?" I asked.

"He could have been armed," Edward said with smirk.

"True, but I promised he wouldn't be and I keep my promises," I replied, "Besides, I think the fact that you are aware of the gun is enough for him."

"I hope so," Edward replied and we both laughed. We pulled into his driveway a short while later and Edward once again raced over to open my door. When we walked in to his house the first thing I noticed was a girl with dark hair sitting on the couch watching television.

"Hi Allie," Edward said as we took our shoes off.

"Hey Edward," she replied, and when she looked over and noticed me she smiled. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," I replied.

"Alice, this is Bella," Edward said as we walked over to the couch, "Bella, this is my sister Alice." Alice had short black hair and green eyes the same shade as Edward's.

"It's nice to meet you Alice," I said.

"It's nice to meet you too, Bella," Alice replied.

"What are you watching?"' Edward asked.

"iCarly," Alice answered, and smiled when Edward rolled his eyes.

"You know you love it," Alice teased.

"I know no such thing," Edward replied, "Where are Carlisle and Esme?"

"Carlisle is in his office and Esme is in the kitchen," Alice replied and then her smile widened. "She's making brownies."

"Excellent," Edward replied with a smile that mirrored Alice's.

"Well, we should probably get to work," Edward said, "and leave you to your wonderful show."

"You know you love it," Alice yelled as we walked up the stairs. Edward laughed as he led me to his room

"Alice seems great," I commented.

"She is," Edward agreed, "And don't ever tell her this but I actually kind of like iCarly."

"Really?" I smirked.

"Yes, really. If she knew, though, I would never hear the end of it," Edward said.

"Your secret is safe with me," I promised.

"Good," Edward smiled, "Now let's get to work so we can go downstairs in a little while and you can meet Esme and we can eat brownies."

"Sounds like a plan," I said as we made our way over to Edward's computer.

**JPOV (James)**

Goddamned heat…

The shitty New Mexico motel I was currently staying in had no air conditioning and the southern heat was killing me. I needed to head north again. It had been long enough since my last heist that I felt comfortable leaving the state, and would be doing just that first thing in the morning. If someone told me years ago this was what my life would be like, I would have told them they were crazy. Once upon a time I was happy, blissful even. Now I was angry and bitter.

It all started with an accident. My wife Vicky and I had been out having a nice dinner. She surprised me with the news that she was pregnant, and I couldn't have been more thrilled. After celebrating at the restaurant with an expensive meal and talking about our plans and dreams for our child, we left to find it snowing out. The driving was somewhat challenging, but manageable as long as you were careful. We stopped at a stop light, and when the light turned green I began to drive through the intersection. Out of nowhere, a car was spinning towards us, out of control. The next thing I knew I woke up in the hospital with a concussion, and Vicky and our unborn child were dead.

My world changed at that moment, and something in me snapped. I wanted to know about the people who had hit us, and the doctor told me there was a man and woman and their son. Apparently the parents were taking the kid to the hospital. The irony of that really hit me hard, considering where I was. The parents had died in the crash with my Vicky, but the little boy lived. Why? Why did that little shit get to live when my wife and baby didn't?

Shortly afterwards the police came to take a report. I couldn't tell them much, and didn't know what good it was going to do anyway. I struggled to figure out if I was glad the parents in that other car were dead, or if I would rather have charged them with vehicular homicide and have them arrested. The police gave me a copy of the report, and I saw their names on it. I didn't recognize the names, but for some reason I was glad I knew what they were. If I cursed their names enough, maybe they would rot in hell where they belonged.

The next day I was released from the hospital, not knowing how I was going to return to a life without Vicky. As the nurse pushed my wheelchair down the hall towards the lobby, I stared into space until something caught my eye. I whipped my head around just in time to see a patient's name written next to a doorway. _Masen, Edward_. Masen? That was the name of the people in the other car. Could their son actually be recovering down the hall from where I was told that my entire life had been ripped from me? I caught a glance of the red-headed, green-eyed boy in the bed, and I saw red.

I went home with rage clawing at my insides, and decided I would go back to the hospital the next day with my gun and pay the boy a visit. It didn't matter to me that I would probably be caught afterwards. I had nothing to lose – everything worth living for was gone. I was enraged even more when I went back the next day and he was gone.

I started to drive home, and the overwhelming urge to leave Chicago with no particular plan in mind took over, along with the red haze that clouded my vision. I stopped at the bank to empty my savings account, but when the teller took too long I put my gun to use. Once I had my money and the people in the bank no longer had their lives, I ran. Part of me was horrified at what I had just done, but a bigger, more forceful part of me felt a temporary release from my rage by taking those people's lives.

Pretty soon the rage overtook me again, and I found myself in another bank with my gun. Like before, when I left the rage was subdued.

I spent the next few years running from town to town, and releasing my rage when it got to be too much. I liked the challenge of knowing that the local police and even the FBI were after me, because I was really good at disappearing right before they could get too close. It had become a game for me. Release the rage, then outsmart those who would keep me from releasing it again.

I knew how to eliminate the rage altogether. There was only one solution. I had to track down that boy and make him pay for the pain he caused me. The chances of me finding him were slim, but giving up would not be an option. I used as many public resources that I could without being too conspicuous to look into his family and try to figure out who might have taken in the little brat.

One day after finding out some useful information about his family through old news files, my direction became a bit clearer. I checked out a map, and after careful consideration I decide to head to Washington.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: Xx-BMSC-xX, sujari6, sandy4321, Elizabeth142, the captains wife, and SoraChan01 for taking the time to leave a review it means alot. So who else bought Breaking Dawn Part 1 this weekend? I know I did :) PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :) **


	8. Chapter 8

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Eight

Edward and I managed to get some actual work done on our project, so to reward ourselves we decided to take a break and make our way downstairs for a brownie. I was nervous about meeting Esme, but the heavenly smell of chocolate that was wafting from the kitchen was a great distraction from that fear.

"The brownies smell really good," I said to Edward.

"Esme makes the best brownies," he replied, "You should probably sit down when you eat one, though, because they will make you go weak in the knees."

"Excuse me?" I asked, skeptically.

"Just trust me," Edward said as we walked into the kitchen. A woman with caramel colored hair, hazel eyes and a kind face was putting brownies on a plate. Alice was already sitting at the table with a brownie and a glass of milk.

"Hey Esme," Edward said, causing the woman to look up.

"Hello Edward," she said, and turned to look at me with a smile, "You must be Bella. I'm Esme."

"It's nice to meet you," I replied.

"It's very nice to meet you, too," Esme said as he handed Edward and I each a brownie. I wasted no time in taking a bite; Edward's earlier warning was already forgotten.

"Holy mother of God!" I exclaimed as the rich chocolate exploded on my tongue. I had to grab the counter next to me for support as my knees had indeed gone weak.

"I warned you," Edward said with smirk as he brought his brownie to the table.

"Oh, shut up," I mumbled as I followed him. We sat at the table to enjoy our snack, and soon after Edward took his first bite a moan escaped him that could have been considered highly erotic. It was a good thing I was sitting, because my knees went weak all over again.

"What do you put in these brownies, Esme?" I asked as I tried to distract myself from Edward.

"It's a secret," Esme replied with smirk that mirrored her nephew's. Edward, Alice and I finished our brownies in silence. We were all too involved in our own chocolate heavens to bother with conversation. Once we were finished, we said goodbye to Esme and went to get my things so Edward could take me home. As we were putting our shoes on I noticed the grand piano in the living room.

"Edward, who plays the piano?" I asked as I pointed to the beautiful instrument.

"I do," Edward replied sheepishly.

"Really?" I said.

"Yeah. My mom had me take lessons when I was a kid and, well, it sort of grew into a passion of mine," Edward explained, "Not just the piano, but music in general."

"Yeah, I noticed your music collection upstairs," I replied. Edward just nodded as we stood up and I grabbed my bag.

"Will you play for me sometime?" I asked.

"Sure," Edward replied. I smiled and we made our way out to the car. The drive back to my house was uneventful and before I knew it we were pulling into my driveway. Edward and I said our goodbyes, and Edward watched until I was safely inside before he drove away.

"Hey," Charlie said from the living room.

"Hi Dad," I replied as I put my stuff away in the closet.

"Did you guys get much done today?" he asked.

"Yes we did," I replied.

"Good," he said.

"I met Edward's aunt, Esme, and his sister, Alice, today," I added, "They both seemed great."

"I have never met Alice, but I have met Esme and she seemed like a very nice woman," Charlie said.

"She is, and she makes killer brownies," I said, thinking back to the chocolate sin I had devoured earlier.

"Always a plus," Charlie grinned.

"So true," I replied, "Alright, I'll go start dinner."

"Okay," Charlie said as I made my way to the kitchen. I made homemade macaroni and cheese for dinner and we ate it in front of the TV. Charlie surprised me by offering to do the dishes, which was an offer I couldn't refuse. I took advantage of the extra time to shower and get some last minute homework done before going to bed.

The week passed quickly, and before I knew it my birthday arrived. I was really hoping Charlie had forgotten about it, but when I walked downstairs and saw the wrapped gift on the table I knew that was wishful thinking. Parents don't forget their kids' birthdays.

"Dad, you didn't have to get me anything," I protested when I sat down.

"Of course I did," Charlie said, "Now suck it up and open the present." I unwrapped the present and unearthed a velvet box I was sure contained jewelry. I eyed it skeptically and Charlie rolled his eyes at me.

"It's not a bomb," he said. I sighed and opened the box. Inside was a beautiful silver locket with a B engraved on it.

"Dad, it's so pretty," I whispered.

"Open it," he urged. I flipped the clasp and gasped when I saw what was inside. Charlie had put a picture of Renee inside the locket.

"This way she will always be with you," he said quietly.

"It's wonderful," I said as I turned to him with tears in my eyes, "Thank you Dad."

"You're welcome, Bells," Charlie said as he wrapped his arms around me, "Happy Birthday."

"Will you help me put it on?" I asked when we pulled apart. Charlie nodded and I turned around so he could help me with the necklace. As I was turning back around I glanced at the clock and groaned.

"I have to leave or I am going to be late," I said as grabbed my bag.

"Alright," Charlie said, "How about if we go out to dinner tonight?"

"Sounds good," I said as I headed for the door, "Love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Bells," Charlie called as I rushed out the door. I made it to school with seconds to spare and hurried to class. Luckily, no one knew it was my birthday to the day was pretty uneventful. I was actually in a pretty good mood when I sat down at the table with Edward for lunch.

"Hey," Edward greeted me.

"Hey," I replied.

"How's your day going?" he asked.

"Pretty good. How is your day going?" I responded.

"Not bad," he said. I picked up my hamburger, dunked it in some ketchup, and took a bite. The burger was a little overcooked, so I set it down and concentrated on my fries instead.

"Is that new?" Edward asked a few minutes later. I looked up and noticed Edward was looking at my new locket. I had been subconsciously playing with the chain and it must have caught his attention.

"Yeah, my dad gave it to me this morning for my birthday," I replied, and then internally smacked myself. There went my plan of not drawing attention to my birthday.

"It's your birthday?" Edward asked.

"Yep," I replied.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Edward asked, looking slightly hurt.

"I don't really like birthdays," I explained, "I wasn't really planning on telling anyone."

"Well, I still wish you would have told me," Edward said, "I would have gotten you something."

"It's okay, really," I insisted.

"Well, how about if we do something this weekend for your birthday?" Edward said.

"Like what?" I asked skeptically.

"I don't know. We could go to Seattle or Port Angeles or something," Edward said.

"Hmm, well I do want to go to Seattle," I replied.

"Great. So Seattle it is then," Edward said with a smile.

"The only thing is I need to go to the bank," I said and picked at my hamburger bun, "and well, you know how well that went last time."

"Hey," Edward said grabbing my hand, "its okay, I'll help you."

"Thank you," I whispered and gave his hand a squeeze. We went back to eating our lunches, but a few minutes later I broke the silence.

"Edward?"

"Hmm?" Edward replied with a mouth full of burger.

"I'm glad I told you about my birthday," I said, smiling.

"Me too," Edward said, swallowing his bite and rewarding me with a breathtaking smile of his own. Later as we are walking to Biology something occurs to me.

"Edward, when is your birthday?"

"June twentieth," Edward replied.

"So you are already seventeen?" I asked.

"Yep," Edward replied.

The rest of the day went smoothly, and to my amazement I make it through gym with no accidents. I did my homework as soon as I got home to get it out of the way and enjoyed the prospect of not having to cook dinner that night. I had just finished putting my backpack beside my desk when the doorbell rang.

"Bella Swan?" the delivery man at the door asked.

"Yes?" I answered.

"These are for you," he said, presenting a bouquet of roses. I silently chastised Charlie, thinking that he had gone way overboard for my birthday.

"Thanks," I said as I took the flowers. The delivery man nodded and went back to his truck. When I shut the door I looked down and noticed a card sticking out of the roses. I take it out and read:

_Happy Birthday Beautiful! Love, Jacob_

My first thought was to shred the flowers and throw them in the trash, but I decided that would be a waste of perfectly good flowers. I decided to make potpourri instead, which at least meant I still got to rip up Jacob's gift.

I spent the rest of the time until Charlie got home contemplating all the ways I can kill Jacob, and trying decide if my dad will arrest me for said murder. I decided he wouldn't because it would clearly be self-defense. I also brought the roses up to my room because I didn't feel like getting into that with Charlie.

Charlie and I ended up going to The Lodge, because there really isn't anywhere else to eat in Forks. Charlie had steak, and I had a large house salad. Of course, Charlie had to tell the waitress it was my birthday so we could get a free desert. After suffering the embarrassment of having every waitress and waiter in the place gather around our table to sing Happy Birthday, Charlie and I shared a brownie with ice cream. It didn't compare to Esme's brownie, but I wasn't about to complain. There really is nothing better than a warm brownie with a scoop of ice cream on top.

After we got home I thanked Charlie for dinner and said good night. I had a chance to think about my day while taking my shower, and I decided that this wasn't the worst the birthday I had ever had.

Saturday came, and I found myself eager for Edward to come and pick me up. We had decided to take Edward's car to Seattle, because if we took my truck it would cost a small fortune in gas. Also, there was always the question as to whether my truck was reliable enough for that long of a trip. Charlie, who had already left for a day of fishing, was being surprisingly cool with my day out of town with Edward. When I told him about it, he said he trusted me and Edward and as long as I was back by dinner.

When Edward pulled into the driveway I grabbed my purse and rushed out the door. Edward, always the gentleman, got out and held my door open for me. Once I was safely inside he shut the door and went around to his side. We spent the drive playing the alphabet game, and listening to the music Edward had brought. Edward let me chose the CDs and I think I surprised him by going from Linkin Park to DeBussy.

When we arrived in Seattle we parked in a parking ramp and decided to go the bank first. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous about attempting to enter a bank again. Knowing that Edward was there to help me, though, was a relief. As we walked down the street I felt uneasy in the pit of my stomach. I glanced around to see if someone was watching us but quickly shook it off. I was letting my fears about the bank get the best of me.

JPOV

I was finally in Seattle, and so far the only thing it had going for it was relief from the fucking heat of the south.

I was walking the streets, trying to get a feel for the place. There were so many people, which was both a good and bad thing for me. It was bad because I hated crowds, but good because it helped me to blend.

It was around noon and I was starving, so I stopped to look for a place to eat. As I was looking around I noticed two teenagers coming out of a parking garage. I took a closer look and froze.

There was no mistaking the bronze hair and green eyes of the boy. It was an older version of the little boy I had seen briefly years ago. It was Masen.

I glanced at the girl next to him, and for some reason she looked familiar. I watched as she looked around, shook her head, and then continued on. I knew I had to keep a distance. I had been waiting far too long for this to end so quickly. I had to watch Masen from afar; I'd study him and the people in his life.

I wanted to destroy Edward Masen. Once I figured out how, I would make my presence known.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also too: x123, ANGEL FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, Xx-BMSC-xX, sandy4321,the captains wife for taking the time to read and review to means alot! PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS :) **


	9. Chapter 9

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 9

"Are you ready for this?" Edward asked. We were currently standing outside of the bank, and I was mentally preparing for the task ahead. Truth be told, I was still terrified. With Edward by my side, though, I knew I could do this.

"Okay. I'm okay," I repeated.

"Are you sure?" Edward asked, looking a little uncertain.

"Yeah," I said, "Do you think…" I trailed off, embarrassed by what I wanted to ask.

"What?" Edward asked, "What were you going to say?"

"Could I hold your hand?" I asked without meeting his eyes. Edward wasn't having that, though; he tipped my chin up so I was forced to look directly at him.

"Of course you can, Bella," he said so sincerely it nearly brought tears to my eyes.

"Thank you," I whispered as Edward held out his hand. I gripped onto him tightly and we made our way into the bank. Luckily, it wasn't very crowded. I don't know if I would have been able to handle this with crowds of people around me. I was doing everything I could not hyperventilate as it was.

"How are you doing?" Edward asked we stood behind the one person in line.

"Hanging in there," I replied and gripped his hand a little tighter. Luck must have been on my side, because the person in front of me finished their transaction in less than five minutes. Normally, I get stuck behind someone opening or closing an account and asking about fifty million questions.

"How can I help you?" the teller asked when we stepped up to the counter.

"I'd like to make a withdrawal please," I replied quietly as I handed her my check card and the withdrawal slip.

"Of course," she said as she took my things and began to type away on the computer. Edward squeezed my hand and when I turned to look at him I was taken aback by look of pride on his face.

"You are doing great," he bent down and whispered in my ear. I just nodded, not really trusting my voice at the moment.

"I'm going to need you to enter your pin number," the teller said with an overly cheery smile.

"Okay," I nodded and typed my pin number in on the little electronic pad.

"Alright," the teller said as she handed me my money and my check card, "You are all set. Have a nice day."

"Thank you," I replied as I shoved everything into my wallet and pulled Edward towards the door. Once we were outside I let out a long sigh of relief.

"I did it," I said in awe, not quite believing I made it through that.

"Yeah you did," Edward agreed and wrapped his arms around me, "I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," I whispered into his chest, "I couldn't have done it without you."

"I just gave you a hand," Edward said with a smirk as he pulled away, "You did the rest all by yourself." I laughed as the tension, stress, and terror that had consumed me in the bank dissipated. It felt good.

"So, um can we go get something to eat?" I asked, and my stomach let out an embarrassing growl, right on cue, "I'm starving."

"I can hear that," Edward laughed, "Let's go eat."

"Awesome," I replied as I adjusted the strap of my purse and we began to walk.

"Oh, and just so you know I am buying this little celebratory lunch," Edward said as he glanced at me out of the corner of his eye, "No protesting."

"Edward, you have already done enough. You don't need to buy me lunch," I replied.

"I just said no protesting," Edward said with mock annoyance.

"I can't help it," I shrugged.

"I didn't get you a birthday present, so the least I can do is buy you lunch," Edward explained.

"This means you won't buy me an actual present, right?" I asked.

"I promise," Edward said.

"Alright, fine," I gave in. We walked to a place called Bella Italia, and even though I thought it looked too fancy Edward insisted we go in.

"Table for two," Edward said smoothly to the seating hostess.

"Right this way," she replied. I didn't miss the once-over she gave Edward before she led us to the table. I found this quite rude, considering she didn't know we weren't on a date. Once we were we seated she handed us menus, gave Edward another ogling, and told us our waitress would be right with us.

No doubt the hostess was on her way to gossip with our waitress about the hot guy she was about to wait on. The waitress' expectant look as she walked over to our table confirmed my suspicions.

"What can I get you guys to drink?" she asked, looking directly at Edward.

"Bella, what would you like?" Edward asked, looking at me instead of the waitress.

"Um, I'll have a Coke," I replied.

"Two cokes," Edward said, and thankfully the waitress disappeared

"So what looks good to you?" Edward said as he picked up his menu.

"Everything," I replied. I really was starving, and the amazing aromas wafting through the air weren't helping. We studied out menus in silence and a few minute later the waitress returned with our drinks. It didn't escape my notice that she gently placed Edward's glass in front of him and practically shoved mine at me.

"Are you ready to order?" she asked as she batted her eyelashes at Edward. It was a wasted effort, because he was still looking at his menu.

"Bella, what do you want?" Edward asked he looked up and over at me. The fact that he seemed to be completely ignoring the waitress made me irrationally happy.

"I'd like the mushroom ravioli," I replied.

"I'll have the manicotti," Edward added.

"That is my favorite," the waitress replied, and I had to resist the urge to snort and roll my eyes. I am pretty sure Edward could have named any item on the menu and she would have said it was her favorite. Edward just smiled politely and looked over at me.

"I'll get that order right in for you," the waitress said before retreating again.

"So, did you come up with a plan yet?" Edward asked.

"A plan for what?" I asked, confused by his random question.

"A plan for how you're going to destroy the waitress," Edward replied with a smirk.

"What? I'm not going…" I trailed off and sighed, because who was I kidding? "Was it that obvious?"

"I thought you were going to stab her with your fork," Edward said as looked down at my hand. I followed his gaze, and sure enough I was clutching my fork tightly in my right hand. It probably should have worried me more than it did that I hadn't even realized I was doing it.

"Didn't it bother you how she was ogling you?" I asked as I let go of the fork.

"I really didn't notice," Edward said.

"How did you not notice?" I asked in disbelief, "She wasn't subtle about it."

"Isabella Swan, are you jealous?" Edward asked looking a little smug.

"Of course not," I replied, though I am sure my bright red face said the opposite.

"You're cute when you're jealous," Edward said as he bit into a breadstick from the basket on the table.

"Shut up," I said with not nearly as much heat as I would have liked behind the statement. Thankfully, Edward dropped the subject and we spent the rest of the time waiting for our food talking about trivial things like our biology project.

When our food arrived the waitress once again set Edward's in front of him gently and dropped mine in front of me.

"Okay, I may not have noticed the ogling, but I definitely noticed her rudeness towards you," Edward said as the waitress walked away.

"Yeah, she doesn't seem to like me," I agreed as I took a bite of my food. I had to admit that even though their service sucked the food was amazing.

"I wonder why?" Edward asked, but the smirk on his face told me he already knew the answer to his question.

"Probably because I am standing in the way of her goal," I replied as I stabbed one of my raviolis.

"Oh yeah? And what's her goal?" Edward asked in amusement.

"You, minus your clothes," I replied, causing Edward to choke on the sip of Coke he had just taken.

"Even if you weren't here," Edward began as he got himself under control, "she wouldn't be reaching that goal."

"Good to know," I replied.

"Do you really think I would go for a girl like that?" Edward asked as he looked at me over a bit of his food.

"I don't know," I answered truthfully.

"I prefer brunettes," Edward said with a wink, "Oh, and women with manners." We both laughed, then turned back to our food. Once we were both stuffed the waitress came back and took our plates. Edward somehow talked me into getting desert, and we ended up sharing a Dolce, which was apple strudel with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It was delicious.

When we couldn't possibly eat another bite, Edward paid the bill and left a smaller than normal tip. Apparently the waitress didn't care, because as were leaving she handed Edward a scrap of paper with her number on it and told him to call her. Edward threw the scrap of paper in the garbage can outside of the restaurant.

"So, what do you need to shop for?" Edward asked.

"Just some long sleeved shirts and maybe some sweat shirts," I replied.

"Alright, come on," Edward said as he led me down the street. We ended up in a store called Maurice's, which appeared to be one of the only clothing stores for young people in town.

"Esme dragged me in here once when we were in town," Edward explained as we walked into the store.

"It looks good," I replied.

"Okay, good," Edward replied, "You take your time and get whatever you need. I am going to go to Strait Music, just down the street."

"Okay," I replied, knowing I would get this done quicker without Edward here. Once he left I got right down to business. A half hour later I was walking out of the store with 2 new long sleeved shirts, a sweat shirt, a pair of sweat pants, and significantly less money.

As I walked to the music store I had that eerie feeling of being watched again. I looked around, but didn't see anyone. I picked up my pace anyway. I opened the door to the music store and immediately felt better when a warm gust of air hit me.

"Can I help you?" an overly friendly guy asked.

"I'm looking for someone," I said, and then spotted Edward over by the guitars, "There he is."

"Well, if you need anything my name is Nate," he said.

"Okay, thanks," I replied, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the way he was looking at me.

Edward looked up as I made my way over to him and I watched as his mouth went from a breathtaking crooked smile to a scowl.

"What's wrong?" I asked when I made it to where he was standing.

"That guy was totally watching your ass while you walked over here," Edward replied with a growl. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty hot. I whipped around just in time to see Nate quickly look away. I turned back around so I was facing Edward and smirked.

"Edward Masen, are you jealous?" I asked, throwing his earlier words back at him.

"What? No, I just think it's rude and you deserve better," Edward replied as he continued to burn holes into the back of Nate's head with his eyes.

"Thank you," I replied, flattered.

"Well, it's true," Edward said and shook his head as if to clear it, "Did you get everything you needed?"

"Yep," I replied.

"Good. Let's go," Edward said as he led me out of the store. I didn't miss the scowl he sent Nate's way as we walked past him.

"Hey Edward?" I said when we were outside.

"Yeah," he replied.

"You're cute when you're jealous," I teased.

"Shut up," Edward said giving me a playful little shove.

"I couldn't resist," I said with a giggle.

"I bet," Edward said with a smirk, "Do you need to go anywhere else while we are here?"

"Nope, I'm good," I replied.

"Okay, let's go back to the car and head home then," Edward said.

"Sounds good," I replied, and we made our way to the car.

JPOV

Teenagers are fucking boring. Watching them walk, stop for lunch, walk, shop for clothes, and walk some more was boring as hell. The one good thing to come out of this shitty day was finding out for certain that the boy I saw was Masen. I still couldn't figure out why the brown haired girl looked so familiar to me, but I knew it would come to me at some point.

The highlight of the day was when they went into the bank. It was hard to resist the urge to go in there and finish things in my usual fashion. I did manage, but only because that would have been way too easy and quick. I wanted to draw this out and savor it for a while.

I did have on tense moment when I thought the girl was going to spot me. I was standing next to a car across the street from the store she was in; when she came out she stopped and looked around. I barely had time to duck behind the car and out of sight.

I watched them as they walked back to the parking garage where I remembered they parked their car. I took out my phone while I waited for them to drive out of the garage, and when they did I took note of the make and model of the car, as well as the license plate number. A quick call to my contacts would tell me all about Mr. Edward Masen, including where he lived. As soon as I had that info, I would be able to find him easily enough and enjoy seeing my plan unfold.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: , Xx-BMSC-xX, sandy4321 ,Amazone3, sujari6 for taking the time to read and review, it means alot. If any of you are interested I started writting a drabble fic for the movie Remember Me. I usually post at least 3 chapters a day so if are interested please go to my profile and check it out! PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 10

During the drive back from Seattle we laughed and joked about our encounters with the waitress and Nate, but the air around us had changed; I could feel it. I couldn't help but wonder if Edward did, too. I've been attracted to Edward since that first day at the bank, and after getting to know him and how sweet, gentlemanly, and caring he is, the attraction has grown. I think it would be impossible for me not to feel they way I do about such an amazing person.

Up until now I felt pretty secure about keeping my feelings a secret, but after today and my reaction to the waitress, I don't how much of a secret I'm keeping. My shyness has prevented me from coming out and telling him how I feel thus far, and subconsciously I've been waiting for him to make the first move. His reaction to Nate gave me hope that maybe he does feel the same way, however the more rational side of my brain thinks he was just being protective and there is no way he could have those kinds of feelings for me. How could somebody so wonderful be interested in someone as average as me?

Edward pulled into my driveway and went to the trunk where I put my shopping bags. Being the gentleman he is, he comes around and opens my car door before walking me to my front door. We stand there under the porch light, and Edward hands me my bags. All of a sudden everything is tense and weird between us, and it's very uncomfortable.

"I had fun today," I said, trying to cut through the tension.

"Me too," Edward replied.

"Well um, I'll see you at school then," I said, suddenly wanting to get away from this situation.

"Right, school," Edward said.

We share what has to be the world's most awkward hug before he says good bye and walks to his car. I watch him as he drives away and pray that this awkwardness between us will be gone by Monday. I walk in the door and find Charlie on the couch watching a game on TV.

"How was your day?" he asked as I drop my bags to hang up my coat.

"Good," I replied, "I got some warmer clothes."

"That's good," Charlie said, "Did you guys do anything else?"

"We went to lunch," I replied. Charlie just nods and I can tell he wants to get back to the game; small talk was never really his thing. I'm pretty sure I inherited that trait from him as I want this conversation to be over as much as he does.

"I'm going to bring this stuff upstairs and then I will come down and make you some dinner," I said as I head for the stairs.

"You're not going to eat?" He asked.

"No, I am still full from lunch," I replied. Not only that, but my stomach is still full of knots from the last few minutes with Edward.

"Alright," Charlie said and I ran up the stairs. I drop my bags on the bed and flop down. After wallowing in misery for a few minutes wondering how I could have handled that situation better, I head back down stairs to start dinner for Charlie.

Since Charlie is the only one eating I decide on something simple; a hot dog with some chips and fruit on the side. After arranging it all on a plate I brought it out to him so he could eat while he watched the game. No need for him to eat at the table if I won't be joining him.

"Here you go," I said, handing it to him.

"Thanks Bella" he replied as he took it and dug right in.

"You're welcome," I said.

"Do you want to watch the game with me?" he asked around a bite of hot dog. I can tell he is asking just to be polite, but it's sweet none the less.

"No thanks," I replied, "I think I am going to go up and read."

"Okay," he said as I left him to his food and game and went up to my room. I took my new clothes out of the bags and put them in my closet, then grabbed one of my classic favorites off the shelf and lay down on the bed. I got through the first chapter of Wuthering Heights before I realized it was pointless; I'm much too distracted to focus on anything.

I put the book back, grabbed some sweatpants and a t-shirt, and headed for the bathroom hoping that a long, hot shower would help relax me enough to clear my mind. I run into Charlie as I am leaving the bathroom.

"Is the game over?" I asked.

"Yep," he replied.

"Good," I said, "Well, good night, Dad."

"Night Bells," he said, "Love you."

"Love you too," I replied as I continued on to my room.

Throwing my dirty clothes in the hamper I notice I haven't done laundry in a few days and make a mental note to do a load in the morning. Just as I climbed into bed I heard a tapping sound on my window. At first I thought my mind was just playing tricks on me, but when I heard it a second time I had to investigate.

I looked out and gasped when I realized that Edward was sitting in the tree outside my bedroom window throwing pebbles at it to get my attention. I threw up the window and breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't squeak. The last thing I needed was for Charlie to be alerted to Edward's presence.

"Edward?" I whispered in shock.

"Hey," he replied, "Um, can I come in?"

"Yes, of course," I said as I hurried out of the way so he could come through the window. He gracefully maneuvers himself through the window, landing quietly on my bedroom floor. I envied his stealth – if I had tried that same stunt I would have very clumsily landed on my ass.

"Edward, what are you doing here?" I asked quietly when he stood in front of me.

"You forgot something, and I wanted to bring it to you," he replied just as quietly.

"What?" I asked in confusion. I knew I didn't forget my clothes because I had put everything away that I bought. I have no idea what he is talking about.

"This," he whispered, and then leaned down to brush his lips gently with mine. Edward's lips were soft and warm on mine and it was all I could do not to moan when he added more pressure and placed his hands on my waist to pull me closer. My hands automatically went to his hair, they had been dying to touch it from day one and they sure as hell weren't going to miss their chance.

When he took my bottom lip between his and sucked I had to move my hands from his hair to the nape of his neck. Holding onto Edward was the only thing keeping me steady and upright. We were both breathing heavily when we pulled away from each other.

"Wow," was the best I could come up with.

"Yeah," Edward replied, and I was relieved to not be the only one at a loss for words. He took my hand and led me to the bed where we sat down and faced each other.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time," Edward admitted.

"Really?" I asked in shock.

"Yes, really," Edward replied, "Is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, yeah. Sort of," I answered.

"Why?" Edward asked, actually looking confused.

"Just look at us," I said as I pointed from me to him, "You are this wonderful, sweet, funny, highly attractive guy, and I am as plain as it gets." By the end of my little speech I had averted my eyes and had become very interested in my bedspread.

"Bella," Edward sighed and tilted my chin up with his finger, "You don't see yourself very clearly."

"Yes I do," I insisted.

"No you don't," Edward said, "You are far from plain."

"Really?" I respond not at all convinced.

"Bella, you are caring, smart, courageous, funny, and…" he trailed as he gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, "beautiful."

"Beautiful…" I repeated doubtfully.

"Beautiful," he echoed, "You have these eyes that are the color of melted chocolate that I can't help but get lost in, delicate features that seem almost breakable, and hair that appears brown but when the light hits it, shows off vivid shades of red."

"Wow," I replied feeling as speechless as when we kissed. The thought that Edward had been paying such close attention to me gave me a very warm feeling. He was the first boy to ever make me feel beautiful.

"Thank you," I whispered as I rested my forehead against his.

"For what?" he asked.

"Making me feel beautiful," I replied, causing a breathtaking smile to appear on his face.

"You are beautiful," Edward said. We were silent as we enjoyed the moment. Our relationship had just taken a drastic turn, for the better, and I wanted this moment to last forever.

"Bella," Edward whispered.

"Yeah," I replied.

"I like you," he answered causing a smile to break out on my own face.

"I like you too," I said.

"Will you go out with me?" he asked, and I could have sworn he sounded nervous. As if I would ever say no.

"Of course," I replied. Edward lay back on my bed, and pulled me down with him so my head rested on his chest. I almost dozed off as I listened to the steady beat of his heart.

"Sorry I was so weird this afternoon when I dropped you off," Edward said, breaking through my rhythmic lullaby.

"We were both weird," I said, and grimaced as thought back to the awkwardness.

"I really wanted to kiss you, but I didn't know if you wanted me to," Edward explained, "I was so conflicted that I ended up just awkwardly hugging you and then felt ridiculous for being such a coward. Once I got home and couldn't stop thinking about it, I decided enough was enough so I came back."

"I'm glad you came back," I said as I cuddled closer to him, "And for the record, I really wanted you to kiss me." I felt Edward kiss the top of my head and before I knew it I was lost in the rhythm of his heart once more. I was close to sleep again when something occurred to me.

"Edward, where is your car?" I asked. If Charlie happened to look out a window and see Edward's car sitting in the driveway this would not end well.

"I parked it on the next street over," Edward explained, "I haven't forgotten who your father is or that he carries a loaded gun."

"Yeah, Charlie seeing your car and then finding us in here together would be a very bad thing," I said, "a very bad thing."

"All this talk of Charlie has got me thinking I should probably go," Edward said, and nudged me so I would sit up.

"I don't want you to go," I pouted.

"I don't want to go," Edward said as gently stroked my cheek with his thumb, "but for the sake of my life I think I should."

"Alright," I huffed and Edward laughed.

"Don't worry, we will see each other again soon," Edward promised.

"When?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," Edward replied.

"Really?" I asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I could come over if you wanted," Edward said.

"Sounds good to me," I answered as we walked back over to the window.

"Tomorrow then," Edward said as leaned down pressed his lips to mine. This kiss was short but sweet, and left me weak in the knees.

"Be careful climbing down the tree," I said as I discreetly leaned on the wall for support.

"I will," Edward said as he ducked out the window and climbed onto the tree branch. I watched as he carefully climbed the tree and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw his feet touch the ground.

"Good night Bella," Edward whispered as looked up at my window.

"Good night Edward," I replied, and watched as he scurried away into the night.

JPOV

It didn't take me long to hear back from my contacts after I gave them the license plate number.

From what they told me, it looked like my next stop would be Forks, Washington.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to ANGEL FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, Xx-BMSC-xX, sandy4321 , Amazone3, sujari6, the captains wife for leaving a review for the last chapter it means alot! **

**Ok a few things: First sorry it took me so long to update. I went to Florida on vacation for a week and didn't have access to a computer. I did get to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios though and that was amazing. Second I was asked if there will be any conflict soon. The answer is there will be conflict but I don't know how soon. We are only 10 chapter in and I want to take the time to make sure Edward and Bella's relationship is strong and solid and I want James to have time to work out his grand plan. So please be patient, I promise it will happen and in the mean time enjoy some Bella/Edward fluff :) **

**Thanks again and sorry for the long AN. PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 11

That night I dreamed of Edward. My usual nightmares were replaced with happier, lighter ones featuring a bronze-haired Adonis. I awoke with a smile on my face, and was pleased to see the almost always absent sun shining through my window. It was as if the weather was reflecting my mood. I readied myself for the day and practically skipped down the stairs to join Charlie for breakfast.

Being a cop, Charlie was observant and picked up on my mood instantly.

"You seem chipper this morning," he said.

"I slept good last night," I replied, "And the sun is actually shining today."

"Uh-huh," Charlie said, and I could tell he wasn't buying my explanation. Thankfully he turned his attention back to his cereal and didn't push the matter any further. I wasn't quite ready to tell Charlie about the change in mine and Edward's relationship quite yet.

After eating my own bowl of cereal, I walked to the sink and began washing the breakfast dishes.

"Any plans today?" I asked my dad while I scrubbed a bowl.

"No, not really," he replied. I nodded and went back to work. Once done I wiped my hand and a dish towel and turned to leave.

"Do you have any plans?" Charlie asked before I could make my escape.

"Um, Edward is coming over so we can work on our project," I said, and thankfully managed to blush.

"Uh-huh," Charlie repeated in the same suspicious tone.

"We only have a little bit left and we want to get it done," I explained.

"Alright, well there is a ball game on that I want to watch so I will be here if you need anything," Charlie replied. In translation, that was dad-speak for 'I'll be here keeping an eye on you so don't try anything.'

"Okay," I replied before escaping to my room. I spent the time before Edward's arrival fixing my hair and applying some make up. When the doorbell finally rang I hurried down the stairs. Charlie raised an eyebrow when he took in appearance and anxiousness but kept his mouth shut. I yanked open the door and smiled widely when I saw Edward standing there.

"Hey," I said breathlessly.

"Hi," Edward replied with a smile that matched my own. We stood there awkwardly for a second before I finally ushered Edward into the house.

"Hi Chief Swan," Edward said when he saw my dad sitting in the living room.

"Hi Edward," Charlie replied, "Didn't I tell you to call me Charlie?"

"Yes sir," Edward said, and rubbed at the back of his neck in unease.

"Well, we are going to go finish our project," I said as grabbed Edward's hand and lead him to the stairs. Edward's hand was warm, soft and perfect in mine.

"I'll be right here," Charlie called after us, a clear warning. Once we were safely in my room I moved to kiss Edward but he stopped me.

"I can't Bella, I'm sorry," he said, looking pained.

"Why not?" I asked, surprise and disappointment clearly showing on my face.

"Your dad is in the house," he replied.

"You kissed me last night and my dad was in the house," I pointed out.

"Yeah, but he didn't know I was in the house. He does now, and I think he knows something is going on between us."

"Yeah," I sighed, "I am pretty sure he suspects something."

"He made it pretty clear he was going to be sitting down there, and you know he is listening," Edward said, "Maybe I am paranoid, but I just don't want to change anything."

"Okay," I replied with my pout still in place.

"I really am sorry, and I really do want to kiss you," Edward said , smirking as he stroked my cheek "I just don't want to die."

"Alright," I laughed, "Let's get to work then."

"I can't wait until this damn project is over," Edward said as pulled out our notes.

"Me too," I replied and we got to work.

Two hours later we were finished and packing up our things. I shut down my laptop and Edward shoved his notes back into his backpack. Charlie had taken more bathroom breaks in those two hours than was normal even for someone with a bladder issue. Each time we heard Charlie clomp up the stairs I would roll my eyes, Edward would smirk, and we would continue with our work.

"It's kind of a bummer that the sun is finally out and we had to spend most of the day inside," Edward said we walked out of my room.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked.

"Sure," Edward replied. We walked down the stairs and Charlie's head snapped up when he heard us.

"Did you get your project done?" he asked.

"Yep," I replied, "We are going for a walk."

"Alright. If you go into the woods out back don't go too far," Charlie said.

"Okay," I said and then turned to Edward, "You can leave your bag by the door if you want." Edward dropped his things and we walked out the back door and into the woods. Once we were a safe distance from the house and Charlie's prying eyes, Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him. Our lips touched and it was like everything was right in the world again. Edward deepened the kiss and the passion of it sent chills through my body.

"I've wanted to do that all day," Edward sighed when we finally broke apart.

"Me too," I said as wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my head on his shoulder. Edward's arms wrapped around my waist and held me close.

"Let's sit," Edward said as he pulled me over to a nearby tree. Edward sat down against the trunk and pulled me into his lap. I rested me head against his chest and we sat in silence enjoying the beautiful day. With the warm sun beating down on us it felt as if we were in our own little piece of heaven. Unfortunately, being that this was Forks, the sun soon disappeared behind the clouds that had been slowly rolling in.

"I guess we better head back," I sighed.

"I guess," Edward agreed, but I was pleased he seemed just as reluctant to leave as I was. I stood and held my hand out to help Edward up; he took it and continued to hold as we started our short trek back to my house.

When my house came into view I had to hold back a frustrated scream when I saw who was standing in the driveway.

"Who is that?" Edward asked.

"Jacob Black," I gritted out from between my teeth.

"So that is Jacob Black," Edward said, and I couldn't help but notice he sounded amused.

"Uh-huh," I replied as Jacob hurried over to meet us.

"Hi Bella," he said eagerly when he reached us.

"Jacob," I said as I kept walking towards the house.

"My dad had a friend of his from the reservation drive us down so we could have dinner with you guys," Jacob explained excitedly as he walked beside us. It didn't escape my notice that he was completely ignoring Edward.

"That's nice," I mumbled as I came to stop when we reached the house. Edward and I were still holding hands, and I was hoping Jacob would notice and take the hint, but clearly that wasn't going to happen so I was going to have to take matters into my own hands.

"Jacob, this is Edward," I said, and dropped Edward's hand so I could wrap my arm around his waist.

"Hi Jacob," Edward said cheerfully as he arm wrapped around my shoulder.

"How...how do you guys know each other?" Jacob asked. It was hard to tell if he was playing dumb or he really was that oblivious.

"Edward is my boyfriend," I said boldly. Edward and hadn't put a label on our relationship yet so I was really he hoping he wouldn't mind.

"Since when?" a familiar voice suddenly burst through. I looked up and saw my dad standing in the doorway.

"Oh crap," I mumbled. Edward and I immediately dropped our arms and took a step away from each other.

"Um… since yesterday," I said quietly as I bravely met my dad's gaze.

"In Seattle?" Charlie said as he looked between me and Edward with his cop's eye.

"Yes" I said. Charlie didn't need to know that we had really gotten together last night after Edward snuck in my window. If he wasn't ready to kill Edward yet, that would definitely send him over the edge.

"Edward," Charlie said and I saw Edward visibly pale.

"Yes, Chief?" Edward replied.

"Do you care about my daughter?" Charlie asked, now in full on cop mode.

"Yes sir," Edward replied.

"Are you going to hurt my daughter?" Charlie continued.

"No sir," Edward replied. I glanced over and noticed Jacob was clearly amused by Edward's fear. My fingers were itching to pummel his smug little face into the ground. The kid brought violent tendencies out in me I didn't even know I had.

"Are you aware that I own an extensive collection of guns and could hide your body where no one could find it?" Charlie asked and I sighed in exasperation.

"Yes Sir," Edward said and gulped.

"Alright then," Charlie said, looking satisfied with the results if his interrogation.

"Are you finished, Dad?" I asked.

"Yep," Charlie replied with an overly happy smile.

"Thank God," I said.

"I like you Edward, and as long as you are good to my daughter I don't have a problem with this," Charlie said totally surprising me. The look on both Edward and Jacob's faces told me I wasn't the only one who was surprised.

"Thank you, Dad," I said as I stepped forward to hug him. When I stepped back my dad held out his hand for Edward to shake.

"Thank you Sir," Edward said as he shook my father's hand.

"You're welcome," Charlie said and turned to head back into the house

"And Edward?" my dad said with hand on the doorknob, "For the love of God, call me Charlie."

"Okay Charlie," Edward replied. My dad smiled and went into the house where I assumed Billy was waiting.

"I'm just going to go inside," Jacob mumbled, and I noticed he had gone from smug to sulky. As soon as the door shut behind Jacob I went to Edward and hugged him tight.

"I'm so sorry about my dad," I said.

"It's alright," Edward said as he arms wrapped around me.

"He was a bit over the top," I said.

"He is just worried about his daughter," Edward replied.

"I guess," I mumbled.

"So, I'm your boyfriend?" Edward asked, and I could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Only if you want to be," I replied as I pulled back to look at his face.

"I do," Edward replied as he cupped my chin in his hand, "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," I whispered as I got lost in the smolder of his eyes.

"Good," Edward replied and brought his lips down to meet mine. When we pulled away a minute later we were both breathless.

"As much as I don't want to, I should probably go," Edward said when he got his breath back. I just nodded and led him inside so he could get his bag. Charlie said good bye to Edward and I walked him to his car.

"Can I drive you to school tomorrow?" Edward asked.

"I'd like that," I replied with a bright smile. After another chaste kiss Edward got into his car and I watched him drive away. The rest of the night went by pretty quickly, and thankfully Jacob kept mostly to himself; he was still in sulk mode. After they left Charlie and I were watching some mindless sitcom on TV when he turned to me.

"Edward makes you happy, doesn't he?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah, he does," I replied.

"I saw you really smile today for the first time since you came here, and it was nice to see," Charlie said.

"I'm happy," I said and then sighed, "But then I feel guilty because I feel like being happy means I am forgetting about mom and what happened."

"Hey, none of that," Charlie scolded, "Your mom wouldn't want you feeling that way, she would want you to be happy."

"I guess," I replied.

"You know she would be excited about you finding a boyfriend," Charlie said with a roll of his eyes. I snorted because, knowing my mom, she would have been more excited then I was about Edward.

"Bella be happy, enjoy your life," Charlie said, "It's what your mom would want; she wouldn't want you wallowing in grief."

"Okay, you're right," I replied with a smile as I stood up, "I'm going to go up to bed."

"Alright," Charlie said, "Good night."

"Good night," I said, "Love you, Dad."

"Love you too Bells," my dad said. I turned and went up to bed thinking about how at this moment my life was good and I was going to do my best to enjoy it.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: ANGEL FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, Xx-BMSC-xX, sandy4321 ,Amazone3, sujari6, the captains wife,.HouseBroken for taking the time to leave a review it means alot! **

**Sorry for the delay in updates, but with Easter things got busy. PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter 12

JPOV

My arrival in Forks was rather uneventful, which I figured was probably good; the last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself. I took a glance at the passenger's seat and checked the map against the piece of paper that had Masen's address written on it. While I had no trouble finding Forks, I was having a bitch of a time trying to find this goddamn house.

It took three hours and a massive headache, but I finally found a turnoff that led to the house. It took all of my self control not to turn down that little lane. As much as I wanted to end Masen, I knew I needed to be smart about this and come up with some sort of plan.

It was with that thought in mind that I reluctantly kept driving.

Luck must have been on my side, because as I drove around looking for a place to stop and sleep I found a rundown cabin not far from Masen's house. One look inside made it abundantly clear that the small cabin was abandoned, so I made myself at home.

The next morning I pulled my duffle bag out of the car trunk and brought it into the house. I needed food, and I knew I could never walk into a store as I was. One of the problems with being on the FBI's most wanted list - you can't just casually walk into a store without taking precautions. I pulled a dark brown wig out of the duffle and covered my own long blonde hair with it. I pulled on an ordinary sweatshirt and jeans as I figured that was how most people dressed around here; blending in was key. I grabbed my sunglasses and hit the road.

I ran my errand quickly and was back in no more than thirty minutes. Now that I was all stocked up it was time to begin my observations.

BPOV

Edward picked me up the next morning and from that moment on a routine was born. Edward would arrive in the morning to pick me up; I would rush down the stairs, yell a goodbye to Charlie and run outside to join Edward. We would share a quick peck on lips, knowing full well that Charlie was watching, and then be on our way.

It was when Edward brought me home at the end of the day that we shared our longer, more passionate kisses. Charlie didn't get home until later, so we had no one watching over us. Even if we did have more freedom in the afternoon, things never got out of hand. Edward was always a perfect gentleman and neither of us was in a hurry to rush things.

Edward and I even went out on a few dates. Nothing too over the top; just dinners and movies in Port Angeles. The dates may have been simple, but they were perfect and I cherished them. I found myself falling for Edward more and more each day. Before I knew it, October arrived and we were getting ready for Halloween.

Alice had decided that she was too old to go trick or treating with her aunt and uncle, but Carlisle and Esme didn't want her to go out on her own, so they came up a with compromise. Edward was going to take her and I volunteered to go with them. Alice had insisted that Edward and I needed to dress up, so after some moaning and groaning from us we let her pick our costumes.

Alice went with a Disney theme, and she and I got dressed in her room. I was Belle from Beauty and the Beast, and of course Alice wouldn't let me wear the simple blue dress with the white apron. Nope, I was currently wearing a bright yellow ball gown complete with a hoop skirt. There was yellow piping on the skirt that I was convinced made me look a giant yellow wedding cake. I even had yellow gloves that went just past my elbows. Esme had helped me with my hair, and it was half up in a bun and half flowing down my back, I had to admit it did look pretty good. Thankfully, they let me wear flats; it would have been a nightmare trying to walk all over town in high heels.

Alice was Snow White, and she was adorable. Her dress was the classic Snow White dress, blue top with puffy blues sleeves that had real diamonds on them and a yellow skirt. Alice's black hair was tied back with a red ribbon.

"You look beautiful Bella," Alice said as we looked in the mirror at ourselves.

"Thanks. So do you," I replied as I wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"Oh, let me get a picture!" Esme gushed as she rushed back into the room. Alice and I faced Esme, wrapped our arms each other and smiled for the camera.

"Alright, you two have a prince waiting for you down stairs, so you better get going," Esme said. Alice and I grinned and rushed for the stairs. I knew Edward was going to be Prince Charming, but I had yet to see his costume. When we got downstairs Edward was standing there waiting for us.

Edward was wearing a white jacket with gold fringe on the shoulders, gold buttons, and gold designs everywhere. His belt was red and gold and his pants where red with a line of gold down each side. Black dress shoes and while gloves completed the outfit. He was breathtaking.

"You look beautiful," Edward said when I reached the bottom of the stairs.

"You don't look so bad yourself," I replied as he pulled me close.

"Hey," Alice said from behind me, "What about me?"

"You look beautiful too," Edward said with a smile as she came to stand next him.

"Okay, more pictures!" Esme said and we all groaned.

"Hush," she scolded playfully. After Esme had finally finished taking pictures the three of us went out to Edward's car. The Cullen's didn't live near any houses, so we were going to drive to my neighborhood for trick or treating. It didn't take long for us to reach my house and my dad was waiting for us when we arrived.

"Well, look at you guys," my dad said as we got out of the car.

"Hi Dad," I greeted him.

"Hey Charlie," Edward added. Edward and Charlie had bonded over their love of sports and Edward was no longer afraid of him. I was relieved that they got along so well and Charlie was happy he was no longer being called 'Sir' and 'Chief.' Alice, who had never met Charlie, was standing nervously by Edward's side.

"Charlie, this is my sister Alice," Edward said as he wrapped his arm around Alice's shoulder "Alice, this is Bella's dad, Charlie."

"Hi there Alice, it's nice to meet you," Charlie said with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you too," Alice said politely.

"Well we should probably get going," I said knowing that we couldn't have Alice out too late.

"Okay, but first come in so I can take a quick picture," Charlie said and I suppress a groan.

"Just one," I said. Charlie nodded and we made our way inside. Charlie was true to his word and after one picture we were out the door. I of course had to steal a Reese's peanut butter cup from bowl by the door on the way out.

Trick or Treating turned out to be more fun than I thought. I still didn't know a lot of the neighbors, but they all seemed pretty nice. Edward and I ended up getting a fair amount of candy; people gave it to us for being such good sports.

"Just a few more houses, okay Alice?" Edward said as we were leaving a house.

"Okay," Alice sighed.

We cut across the front yard to get to the next house. Unfortunately because it was dark I didn't notice the small dip in the yard between the houses. I lost my footing, fell forward, and landed on my stomach. Edward who had been right behind me didn't have time to stop and ended up falling on top of me. Edward wasted no time in getting up and helping me to my feet.

"Are you okay?" he asked, looking me up and down for injuries.

"I'm fine," I replied as I brushed off my dress. Thank goodness the grass wasn't wet or my dress could have been ruined.

"That was awesome," Alice said as she giggled, "You guys were like human dominos."

"Zip it, Alice," Edward said as we continued on to the next house. Alice giggled all the way up to front door of the next house and managed to compose herself in time to say Trick or Treat. As we turned to leave, a little boy around Alice's age came running up to us.

"Hi Alice," he said.

"Hi Jasper," she replied and from the glow of the flood lights I could see she was blushing. Jasper had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was dressed like a pirate for the evening. He and Alice started whispering to each other, and I turned to Edward who I noticed was scowling.

"What's wrong? Do you not like watching your little sister talk to a boy?" I teased.

"It's not that. I just don't like the boy she is choosing to talk to," Edward whispered.

"Why? Jasper seems harmless," I said as watched to two kids laugh and talk.

"Jasper Hale is okay, I guess; it's his sister I have a problem with," Edward said.

"Wait, Hale? As in…," I trailed off as a voice behind spoke up.

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Edward scowled and I turned only to come face to face with none other than Rosalie Hale.

"Hi Rosalie," I said hoping she would be civil with Alice and Jasper standing so close by.

"Don't you all look adorable," she said in a sickeningly sweet sarcastic voice.

"Gee thanks, Rose," Edward replied with just as much sarcasm, "I almost didn't recognize you without Emmett stuck to your face."

"Oh Edward, are you jealous that I chose the real man in your family over your scrawny ass?" Rose sneered.

"Yes Rose, the fact that Emmet has you and I don't keeps me up at night," Edward said with a roll of his eyes.

"Let's face it. Emmet is twice the man you will ever be," she continued and it took everything I had not to smack her smug little face.

"That's probably true; I don't live off of steroids like he does," Edward replied. Alice's giggle and Jasper's laugh broke through our conversation. Rosalie looked over and glared at the two kids in disgust.

"God, I don't know why my brother hangs around with your sister," Rose said, "He could do so much better." Edward's arms came around my waist as I prepared to lunge at Rosalie.

"She's not worth it," He murmured in my ear. I just nodded because the truth is he was right. No need to ruin my pretty dress over this bitch.

"If there is one place your brother could do better in, it is in the sister department," Edward said, "He definitely got screwed there."

"Alice let's go," Edward called, and we walked away from Rose without a backward glance.

"Bye Jasper," Alice said before she turned and walked to where we were waiting.

"We should head back to Bella's house," Edward said as we started walking, "It's getting late and I know Esme and Carlisle want you home, Alice."

"Okay," Alice said, and I could tell she must have been tired if she didn't put up a fight. We made it back to my house in no time, and after giving me a hug Alice climbed into the backseat of Edward's car.

"Thanks for coming tonight," Edward said to me as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I had fun," I replied with a smile.

"Good," Edward said before he lips met mine. While we were kissing I felt Edward slip something into my hand.

"Happy Halloween," Edward said when he pulled away. I stepped back and watched him as he climbed into his car and drove away. As I started to head inside I looked down at what Edward had handed me and saw it was one of those plastic spider rings that people give out at Halloween. I laughed and shook my head while I slipped the ring on.

"Happy Halloween indeed," I sighed.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thank you also to: Xx-BMSC-xX, the captains wife, syram, sujari6 for taking the time to read and review it means alot! I hope you guys enjoyed the quick update :)**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Thirteen

JPOV

So, I have been in Forks for a while now, and all I can say about this place is that it is fucking boring! I swear to God, the only thing here is trees; no entertainment or night life of any kind. How people can live here and not die of boredom I'll never know. Besides being boring, it's small, which is a problem when you're trying not to draw attention to yourself. A new person in a small town sticks out like a sore thumb, so I rarely leave my little cabin. When I do venture out, it's to spy on Masen or to get food.

With nothing else to do in this town, I have managed to learn a little about Masen. He spends a lot of time with his little gal pal. I'm going nuts trying to figure out where I know her from. It's like when I watch a movie and recognize an actor, but can't remember what I saw them in before. I followed Masen to her house one day, so I now know where she lives. I was less than thrilled to discover that her dad is a cop, realizing that when he pulled up to their house in a squad car. There is a pretty high probability that he knows about me because of all the 'wanted' lists I am on. While the fact that the girl has a cop for a father is a problem, the fact that she has another stalker besides me is a bonus. During my observations one day, I noticed a young teenage boy following her around like a love sick puppy. It's clear that the girl can't stand him, but that doesn't seem to deter him at all. Maybe if the kid is desperate enough I can trick him into helping me.

Shaking my head I put all plan ideas aside as I concentrate on making my Thanksgiving dinner, which consists of a turkey and gravy TV dinner and a Hostess pie. I sat down and tried to decide what I am thankful for, but after thinking on it for a minute I can only conclude that all I have to be thankful for is the revenge I will have soon against the bastard who destroyed my future. As I ate I decided to talk to the stalker boy to make sure my plan is ready to go right after the holidays. Being the kind and generous soul that I am, or used to be, I'll give them one more happy holiday season before I blow their lives apart.

BPOV

_Ugh! I have nothing to wear._

The thought repeats itself in my head as I rummage through my closet trying to find something to wear for Thanksgiving dinner. Normally I would just pick something casual and go with it, but this year is different because we are having Thanksgiving dinner with the Cullens/Masens. I know that Carlisle, Esme, Edward and Alice have all met and seen me before and none of them probably care what I wear, but I am still freaking out. I finally decided on a dark purple sweater, a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and pair of black boots that stopped mid-calf. I curled my hair slightly and applied some light make up, and once I was sure I looked presentable, I headed downstairs to meet Charlie.

"Finally," Charlie muttered when he saw me coming down the stairs.

"I heard that," I replied.

"You were up there so long I was about to send a search party after you," Charlie quipped.

"Ha ha," I said as I grabbed my coat, "Let's go." Charlie walked into the kitchen and came back a minute later with his key's and the chocolate chip pie I had made. When Esme invited us I insisted on bringing something so she asked me to bring a pie. Chocolate chip pie was my favorite and I knew Charlie loved it too, so I figured it was a good choice. I spent the drive to Edward's house staring at the trees and worrying that nobody would like my pie.

I had to remind Charlie where the almost hidden turn off was to the Cullen's house, since he had only been here once before. He had dinner with Esme and Carlisle shortly after Edward and I started dating, so he was at least familiar with them and the house. Charlie carried the pie up to the immense house for me, and I broke into a goofy smile when Edward answered the door.

"Hi," Edward said with a smile that matched my own.

"Hi," I replied.

"Hey there, Edward," Charlie said.

"Hi Charlie. Please, come in," Edward said. He led us into the house and hung our coats in the closet. Right after, Esme rushed in from the kitchen to greet us.

"Hi you two," she said with a beaming smile, "I am so happy you could come."

"It is our pleasure," Charlie said as Esme wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you so much for inviting us," I added as I got a hug of my own. Carlisle came down stairs and Alice came in from the kitchen, where I assume she had been helping her aunt. Once all the pleasantries has been exchanged and Esme gushed over my pie, Charlie and Carlisle escaped to Carlisle's office/man cave to watch foot ball and Alice and Esme went back into the kitchen. I was thrilled to have a minute alone with Edward.

Once he felt confident we were alone, Edward wrapped his arms around me and brought his lips down to meet mine. When we pulled apart a minute later we were both breathing heavily and smiling stupidly. He led me over to the couch and pulled me down next to him.

"You look beautiful," he said as he gently placed a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Thanks," I replied, "You don't look so bad yourself." Edward looked sinful in his jeans and dark blue button-down shirt.

"Thank you," Edward replied.

"I should probably go see if your aunt needs help," I sighed, not really wanting to move.

"I'll go with you," Edward said as he stood and helped me up.

"Really?" I asked, pleased that Edward wanted to help.

"I am not ready to leave your side just yet," Edward said before leaning down to kiss me again. I swear everything this man said and did made me melt, and it was pretty safe to say I was I close to becoming a puddle of Bella on the floor. When we pulled apart Edward laced his fingers through mine and we made our way to the kitchen.

"How can we help?" Edward asked when we walked into the room.

"You want to help?" Esme asked with a skeptically raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Edward replied defensively.

"He just doesn't want to be away from Bella," Alice piped up from her place at the counter where she was taking rolls out of a package and putting them into a basket.

"Zip it, Squirt," Edward said as he reached over mussed Alice hair. Alice just glared at him and reached up to smooth down her now messed up hair.

"Well, if you are determined to help you can cut up some vegetables for the salad," Esme said.

"Alright," Edward said, heading for the fridge. I watched as he brought a handful of vegetables over to the cutting board and started chopping.

"What can I do?" I said as I turned to face Esme who appeared to be making mashed potatoes.

"Hmm," Esme said thoughtfully, "Do you want to make the cranberry sauce?"

"Sure," I replied.

"Great," Esme said as she walked over to me with a cookbook, "Here is the recipe and everything you need should be in the fridge or the freezer."

"Perfect," I said with a smile.

"Let me just get you a sauce pan and you should be all set," Esme said and went to a drawer by the stove to get the pan. Once I had everything I needed I got to work. I put a cup of frozen cranberries, sugar, lemon and orange zest into the pan and heated it up. Once the cranberries started to burst I turned down the heat and added the rest of the cranberries from the bag. When they were done I put the cranberries in a bowl added a little more sugar, and some salt and pepper. I carried the bowl to the table and set it down next to Edward's salad, which looked surprisingly wonderful. Since Esme didn't have anything else for him to do after the salad was made, he joined Charlie and Carlisle upstairs.

"Alright, I think everything is ready," Esme said as she brought out her mashed potatoes and set them on the table.

"I'll go get the boys," I said and headed for the stairs. I found them watching football in Carlisle's office. Something important must have happened, because they were yelling at the TV when I walked into the room.

"It's time to eat," I said.

"What perfect timing! This game is terrible," Carlisle said. The guys all stood up and stretched before we made our way downstairs. We all sat around the large dining room table and Esme brought out the turkey. After she placed the turkey in front of Carlisle she took her place at the other end of the table. Charlie and I were sitting on one side of the table and Alice and Edward sat on the other while Esme and Carlisle sat at the ends of the table.

"I think before we eat we should go around and say what we are thankful for," Esme said and we all agreed.

"I'll go first," Esme volunteered, "I am thankful that we were able to share this wonderful meal with Bella and Charlie."

"I'm thankful for my wife, Alice, Bella and even Edward for making this amazing looking food," Carlisle said.

"I'm thankful that Edward didn't chop any of his fingers off when he was cutting the vegetables," Alice said and smirked as we all laughed.

"Hey," Edward said in mock anger as he reached over and mussed Alice's hair again. Charlie turned serious as he took his turn.

"I'm thankful that even after everything that happened, my daughter is healthy and happy," he said. Charlie wrapped his arm around me and squeezed my shoulder.

"I'm thankful for my dad for keeping me going when I didn't think I could, to Edward for making me happier than I thought I could be, and to Esme, Carlisle and Alice for being so amazingly wonderful to me," I said.

"I'm thankful to Bella for changing my life in the best possible way, and to Charlie for not shooting me," Edward said.

"Here, here!" Charlie said as he raised he glass in salute. We all followed suit and raised our glasses before clinking them together and taking a drink. Carlisle carved the turkey and we all dug in. All of the food was delicious, and once we all had had our fill we sat back and groaned. Esme stood up and started to gather the plates, but Carlisle stopped her.

"Sit down, Esme. You girls cooked, so the guys and I will take care of the dishes."

"Thank you, dear," Esme said as she sat down and Carlisle and Charlie started to collect the plates.

"Edward, can you grab those dishes over there?" Carlisle said, pointing to Edward's right.

"But I cooked, too!" Edward protested, "I made the salad."

"That's not cooking, and you are certainly not one of the girls, so stand up and help" Carlisle said with a pointed look.

"Fine," Edward huffed as he grabbed some plates and disappeared into the kitchen with the guys. Esme, Alice, and I giggled and made our way into the living room to chat. The guys joined us a little while later; the dishes didn't take long because most of the things went into the dishwasher. We talked for a bit before Esme brought out the pie that I had made. Even though we were all stuffed from dinner, we still managed to devour most of it. It's seems like no matter how much you eat, there's always room for dessert on a holiday. Everyone loved the pie, and when we were done Charlie and I decided it was time to head home. Once we had our coats we thanked our hosts and said our goodbyes. Edward pulled me aside and kissed me goodnight, and I wore a goofy smile on my face for the entire drive home.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: Xx-BMSC-xX, sujari6, the captains wife for taking the time to leave a review it means alot. **

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Fourteen

The next month flew by and before I knew it, Christmas break was upon us. I desperately needed the time away; not just from school, but from the people who attended it. As far as I was concerned, the last school day could not end soon enough.

Unfortunately, because I wanted it to end, the day dragged by at a snail's pace. In Biology Edward and I watched Elf with the rest of the class. I think the teachers understood we were incapable of learning anything at that point, so we had been watching movies in most of our classes. It was also clear that there weren't a lot of options when it came to holiday-themed movies for teenagers, because this wasn't the first time I had seen Will Ferrell in a pair of green tights today. You'd think the administration would have coordinated a little better.

Edward sitting next to me with his arm around my shoulder made this viewing of the movie so much better than in Algebra. It also helped that I had my head resting on Edward's shoulder and he was running his fingers through my hair. It was all I could do not to purr. When the bell rang I reluctantly removed myself from Edward and trudged to gym. The gym teacher took pity on us, well…me, and gave us a free period. I spent the hour listening to my iPod and thinking about what I had to do before Christmas. I still had some last minute shopping to do and I wanted to call Phil.

Phil and I hadn't talked since I moved to Forks, and I wanted to check up on him. I felt bad that we hadn't talked in so long, but I just didn't know what to say to him. I knew he would be alone this holiday season, and I wanted him to know that I was thinking of him. It was his first Christmas without my mom, too, after all. The bell rang and I sighed in relief knowing I was free for the next two weeks. It didn't take me long to grab what I needed from my locker and meet Edward outside. It was freezing out, but when Edward pulled me into his arms and spun me around, kissing me senseless, I suddenly didn't mind.

"We're free," Edward murmured against my lips.

"At last," I replied, and we laugh. Edward set me down and we hurried over to his car as the cold starts to seep into our bones. Once we were buckled in Edward cranked the heat and we were on our way. Edward dropped me off with another passionate kiss and a promise to call me the next day so we can plan when to go shopping. Edward hadn't finished his shopping either, so we decided to go together and help each other out. Charlie wasn't home yet, so after dropping my bag in my room I grabbed the phone and dialed Phil's number.

"Hello," Phil answered, and I swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in my throat.

"Hi," I replied quietly.

"Bella?" Phil asked.

"Yeah," I answered.

"How are you? Are you okay?" Phil asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," I replied, and my guilt swells over the fact that he thinks I would only call if something is wrong.

"Good," Phil said.

"I didn't mean to worry you," I said, "I just wanted to check in and see how you were doing."

"I'm alright," Phil replied.

"Yeah?" I am not at all convinced because he sounds off.

"Well, for the most part anyway," Phil admitted, "The holidays are rough."

"I know what you mean," I said.

"Your mom loved the holidays," Phil said, "She loved decorating the house and making cookies and…and…I miss her." Phil was completely choked up by that point and I could barely hold it together myself.

"I miss her too," I replied as my tears began to fall. I clutched the locket that was always around my neck, like a life preserver. We were silent for a moment, getting ourselves under control; Phil eventually broke the silence.

"I'm sorry, Bella; I didn't mean to unload on you like that."

"It's okay," I answered, "Are you really doing okay?"

"Yeah, I am. Like I said, it's just the holidays," Phil replied, "I actually got an offer to play in Jacksonville; I think the move will be good for me."

"That's great Phil," I replied enthusiastically, because it really was a big deal and something he needed in his life right now.

"Thanks. So, how are you really doing?" Phil asked.

"I'm good," I answered before adding, "I met someone."

"Really?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, his name is Edward. He makes me really happy," I replied and smiled as I thought of Edward.

"Good," Phil replied and I could hear the smile in his voice, "Your mom would have had a field day with this, you know."

"Oh god, I know," I answered and we both laugh.

"I'm glad you are happy," Phil said when we managed to compose ourselves.

"I'm glad you are too," I replied, "I'm sorry I haven't called sooner."

"Hey it's okay," Phil answered, "It's not like I kept in touch myself."

"How about if we try to do better?" I replied.

"Alright," Phil agreed, "What if we try to talk at least once a month?"

"Deal," I replied, "Alright, I should go. Charlie will be home soon."

"Give him my best," Phil said.

"I will," I said.

"Okay, well take care," Phil said.

"You too," I replied before hanging up. As I made my way down stairs to make dinner, I smiled thinking about how nice it was to talk to Phil, and how I would make the effort to talk with him every month. Chili was on the on the menu for the evening, and it didn't take long for me to a have a big pot cooking on the stove and some corn bread warming in the oven.

Once Charlie got home I filled him in on my conversation with Phil. He seemed pleased that I had spoken to him, and was glad to hear that Phil was doing well. I felt somewhat drained after such an emotional conversation on the phone, so I went to bed right after dinner.

I dreamt of Mom that night. Nothing scary; just her and I hanging Christmas decorations. It was nice, and when I woke up I smiled because even though she is gone I know I still have wonderful memories of her to keep me going.

Edward called a bit later as planned, and we made our strategy for Christmas shopping later in the afternoon. The drive to Port Angeles was nice, and after about three hours we finally had everything we needed. I bought Alice an iCarly backpack and filled it with iCarly stickers and an iCarly folder. Esme loves to cook and bake, so I found a fun desert cook book for her. Carlisle was trickier, but I ended up finding an old medical textbook at an antique store that Edward assured me he would love. Charlie had been asking for some fishing radar thing, so he was easy and I knew he would be thrilled. I even found a vintage baseball glove at the antique store to send to Phil.

Edward, taking a page from Charlie's book, got Alice a locket. He planned to put pictures of their parents in it. Edward did well at the antique store as well; he found Carlisle a vintage doctor bag and a very pretty antique box for Esme to put odds and ends in. I laughed at the antique sheriff badge he found for Charlie.

I even managed to find something for Edward when he wasn't looking. When he was examining the antique boxes to pick one for Esme, I managed to find some antique piano tuning tools and a music book with Chopin songs for him to play. When we finished shopping Edward bought us some hot chocolate, and we snuggled on a bench enjoying our warm, sweet treat and the crisp cold evening. We spent the drive home talking, laughing and listening to Edward's endless music collection. Edward helped me carry my bags to the door and I was careful to make sure I got the bag with his present in it. After a long lingering goodbye kiss, Edward left and I made my way inside. Charlie had ordered pizza and I had to admit it was nice to have a night off from cooking.

The next days were spent wrapping Christmas presents and baking cookies. I also made Andes Mint cookies, chocolate cookies with melted Andes Mints on top, and Reese's Peanut Butter Cup cookies, peanut butter cookies with Reese's in the middle, for Christmas. We were spending this holiday with the Cullen's too, so I figured I would bring the cookies with me. I also sent some to Phil along with his present.

On Christmas morning I woke up and headed downstairs. To say I was shocked to see Charlie down there making pancakes would be an understatement. Even more shocking was the fact the pancakes turned out to be amazing.

"Okay, you need to make these more often" I said as polished off my plate of food.

"Well, if you insist," Charlie said as we brought our dishes to the sink.

"I do," I replied.

"Alright, how about if I make them every Sunday?" Charlie said.

"Deal," I agreed, "When did you learn how to make them?"

"Oh about seventeen years ago," Charlie said with a small smile, "Pancakes were the only thing your mom craved when she was pregnant with you."

"Really?" I asked with a smile of my own.

"Really," Charlie said, "So, are you ready for presents?"

"Oh sure," I replied.

"Try to contain your enthusiasm there, Bells," Charlie said as we walked into the living room where our tree was. Charlie had surprised me by bringing home a real tree one night and we had a great time decorating it together.

Charlie loved the fishing radar that I got him. I still didn't know exactly what it did, but Charlie was sure excited about it and spent a lot of time just gazing at the box and the pictures on it.

Charlie gave me a really nice warm coat with matching hat and gloves that I was thrilled to get. Of course the overprotective father/cop had to have a part in the holiday, and I was less than overjoyed with the can of mace he gave me. He did manage somehow to wrap it nicely, though. Once the presents were all opened we got ready and headed over to the Cullen's.

Esme greeted us at the door and ushered us in from the cold. We put our presents under the tree, and when I stood up Edward was behind me. He pulled me into his arms and gave me a chaste hello kiss; it probably would have been more had my dad and his aunt and uncle not been standing there. Dinner was delicious. We had ham, cheesy potatoes, rolls, fruit and Edward even made another salad. The cookies that I brought were a big hit and when dinner was over I helped Esme with dishes.

"Are you okay?" I asked Esme when she spaced out for the second time in two minutes.

"I just miss my sister, well sisters actually, around the holidays," Esme said as she handed me a dish to dry.

"I'm sorry," I said, "I miss my mom, so I know how you feel."

"I'm sorry too," Esme said as she wrapped her arm around me and gave me a squeeze, "Alright, enough sadness, let's go open presents."

"Sounds good," I said with a smile as we headed out to join the others in the living room. Everyone loved the presents Edward and I got them. Charlie even pinned the sheriff badge to his shirt. We all laughed when Charlie and Carlisle exchanged gifts and it turned out they had both given each other Seahawks tickets. Esme was a big fan of gardening, so Charlie got her a book of various gardens around the world, and Esme gave him a sweater that she knitted.

I got a knitted blanket from Esme and a first aid kit from Carlisle. At first I was almost insulted by the first aid kit, but then realized that this was something that would more than likely come in handy and that he certainly didn't mean to offend me by it.

When we were done and everyone went into the other room for coffee and pie, Edward and I exchanged our gifts in private. I handed Edward his neatly wrapped present and watched the confused expression on his face as he felt the weight of it. The tools were actually pretty heavy. He carefully opened it, and when he realized what they were his face lit up and I knew I had chosen well.

"Bella, these are amazing," Edward said as he picked up the tools and inspected them.

"I know you can't actually use them, but I thought that they were pretty cool," I said.

"I love them Bella," Edward said as he leaned over to kiss me, "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," I said with a smile as I watched him pick up the music book.

"Did you get this stuff while we were shopping?" he asked.

"Yeah, I can be sneaky when I want to be," I said with a smirk.

"Well you aren't the only one," Edward said as he put the book down and handed me my present. I tore off the wrapping paper and felt tears welling up in my eyes when I saw a first edition of Wuthering Heights carefully placed in tissue.

"Edward, this is my favorite book," I said as I stroked the cover.

"I know," Edward said as he rested his forehead against mine.

"This is perfect," I whispered.

"The book or us?" Edward asked with a smile.

"Both," I replied as I kissed him, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Edward said, "Now, are you ready for your other present?"

"What other present?" I asked nervously

"Follow me," Edward said as led me over to his piano. Edward sat down on the bench and pulled me down next to him. He looked at me and smiled before he started playing the most amazing song I had ever heard. It was haunting, quiet, and beautiful. I felt tears prickle at my eyes again as the song washed over and through me.

"Did you write that?" I asked when he finished. I knew Edward wrote some of his own stuff, because once I listened to a song he wrote for Esme.

"Yeah," Edward replied as he turned to face me, "For you."

"Me?" I said, not believing something so beautiful could be for me.

"It's called Bella's Lullaby," Edward said as leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine. When Edward moved to pull away I held close and rested my forehead against his so we were eye to eye.

"I love it," I whispered, "And I love you." It was the first time that I had voiced my feelings to Edward, and I held my breath waiting for his response. Luckily I didn't have to wait long.

"I love you too," Edward said with a breathtaking smile on his face. I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and brought my lips back to his. I poured all my love and passion into the kiss and prayed it would never end. Unfortunately Charlie had other plans, because a minute later he cleared his throat and we were forced to stop.

"It's time to go," he said. I nodded and reluctantly stood up to get my things. I said goodbye to Esme, Carlisle, Alice and unfortunately Edward. It was harder saying goodbye to him now that we had confessed our true feelings. On the car ride home my cell phone buzzed, and when I pulled it out I smiled when I saw the text message was from Edward.

**I love you**

I sighed and held the phone to my heart before texting Edward back. Luckily Charlie kept his eyes on the road and didn't notice.

**I love you too 3**

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also too: Xx-BMSC-xX, sujari6, the captains wife, Hope Edwards, sandy4321 for taking the time to leave a review. I hope you guys enjoyed this bit of Christmas fluff. James will back in the next chapter and he will start putting his plan into action. Are you guys ready? **

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	15. Chapter 15

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Fifteen

I woke the next morning with a mile-wide smile on my face. It's impossible not to smile when you fall in love with someone amazing, and by some miracle they love you back. My Edward induced daydream was shattered by the ring of my phone. I reached for my phone and smiled when I saw the text from Edward.

**Good morning love**

I hoped Edward wouldn't stop calling me 'love' any time soon, because the shivers it sent all through my body were not anything I wanted to go away soon. I quickly typed a response as I climbed out of bed and hunted through my closet for something to wear.

**Morning 3**

As I waited for Edward to respond I pulled on a pair of yoga pants that had never actually been used for yoga, and a comfy longed sleeved shirt. I wasn't planning on leaving the house today so my wardrobe wasn't really a priority. I threw my hair up into a messy bun and picked up my phone when it beeped.

**Wish I could see you today, but I already have a date ;)**

I snorted because his date was with Alice. Edward and Alice really hadn't spent much time together lately so they decided to have a brother/sister day. I actually felt guilty because Edward was spending so much time with me and I knew it was limiting his time with Alice. When he mentioned their plan to spend the day together I was all for it. There were very close, and I didn't want to be the reason they lost that bond.

**Tell Alice I say hi **

I went downstairs and was not surprised to find Charlie already gone. After having both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off, Charlie was unfortunately back at work today. It was nice getting to spend some time with my dad. I was just reaching for a bowl for my cereal when my phone rang yet again.

**Will do! I'll talk to you later.**

I texted Edward back after grabbing a bowl and sticking it on the counter. Multitasking wasn't exactly my strong suit.

**Okay, I love you**

It was ridiculous how happy typing those words made me.

**I love you too**

I let out an embarrassingly girly squeal before heading over to grab a box of cereal. After eating not one, but two bowls of Count Chocula, I ran upstairs to get the book that Edward had given me.

Book in hand, I flopped down on the couch, pulled a warm blanket over myself, and began to read. I usually loved reading because it gave me the chance to get lost in the characters and escape to another world. Today, however, I did not want to escape so I was having a hard time concentrating on the book. Part of me thought it couldn't be healthy to be this obsessed with a guy, but a bigger part of me just didn't care. I was in love for the first time, and it was amazing.

I was just thinking about putting in a movie when the doorbell rang. I set my book on the table and went to the window to see who was here. Charlie, being a cop, had stressed over and over again the importance of checking to see who was at the door before opening it.

When I saw who was at the door I had to admit Charlie had a point. As I seriously debated whether or not to open the door, Jacob stood waiting, and if that wasn't bad enough he was holding a present. He spotted me through the window, so with a groan I unlocked the door and opened it.

"Hi," Jacob said, chipper as ever.

"Hey," I replied and stepped aside so he could come in out of the cold. He stomped the snow off of his boots and made his way inside.

"How was your Christmas?" I asked, because really I didn't know what else to say.

"It was good. Dad gave me some parts for the Rabbit," Jacob said excitedly.

"That's good," I replied while desperately thinking of a way to change to the subject. Once Jake started talking about his car it was hard to get him to stop.

"How about you? How was your Christmas?" Jake asked, totally surprising me.

"It was great," I answered and couldn't help but smile when I looked down and saw the book from Edward.

"Did you get that book?" Jacob asked as he followed my gaze.

"Um, yeah, Edward gave it to me," I replied and watched Jacob grimace.

"That's nice," Jacob said through gritted teeth.

"So, what are you doing here?" I asked, "And how did you get here, anyway?"

"I hitched a ride from one of the guys on the reservation," Jacob explained, "I am supposed to meet him at the lodge when I leave." I just nodded my acknowledgment.

"I'm here because I wanted to give you your Christmas present" Jacob said as he handed me the present.

"I didn't get you anything," I replied as I tried to make the box that I was sure contained jewelry, disappear.

"That's okay," Jacob said, "Open your present." I slid the bow off the box and carefully lifted the lid. Inside the box lay a beautiful pearl necklace.

"Jacob, I can't accept this," I said as pushed the box into his hands.

"Why not?" Jacob asked, and I was stunned to see he actually looked confused.

"First of all, it's way too expensive," I said.

"No it's not, I had the money," Jacob said.

"Really?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah. People in La Push pay me to fix their cars sometimes, so I have some money," Jacob explained.

"Okay fine, but I still can't take it," I said and stepped back when he tried to hand back the box.

"Why?" he asked.

"It's really inappropriate," I said.

"How is it inappropriate?" Jacob asked as he took a step closer to me, "I love you." Before I had time to register what he had just said aloud, Jacob's lips crashed down on mine. I shoved Jacob away and looked at him furiously.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked in outrage.

"Showing you how much I love you," Jacob replied.

"You need to leave," I said as I grabbed his arm and pulled him to the door.

"But…" Jacob began as I shoved him out the door and slammed it shut. I locked the door so he couldn't get back in and then ran upstairs. I grabbed my toothbrush and toothpaste and attempted to scrub my mouth clean.

When my mouth was as clean as I could possibly make it without a dental scaling I went back downstairs and picked up my book. I may not have needed the escape before, but I sure did after Jacob's visit. At that point as I willing to do anything to block out what had just happened. Luckily the book did the trick, and I was able to spend the rest of the afternoon lost in the world of Wuthering Heights. When Charlie walked in the door, though, I wasted no time in getting straight to point.

"We have to talk," I said.

"Nice to see you too, Bells," he replied as he hung up his jacket.

"Jacob came by today," I said.

"That's nice," he said absently as finished putting his stuff away, "Did you guys do anything fun?"

"Well, he gave me a ridiculously expensive pearl necklace, declared his love for me, and then kissed me," I replied watched as he slowly turned to face me.

"Excuse me?" he asked looking a shell shocked.

"Yeah, it was a little shocking," I said, "I told him to leave, shoved him out the door, and then slammed and locked it."

"God," Charlie said as he scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration, "I knew he had a little crush on you, but I didn't think he would ever do anything like this."

"Yeah, I know," I replied.

"I'll talk to Billy and hopefully he can talk some sense into Jacob," Charlie said.

"Thanks, Dad," I said with relief, "I was pretty close to using the pepper spray you gave me on him."

"Well I am glad it didn't come to that," Charlie said with slight smile.

"Me too," I agreed, "I am just going to reheat some leftovers for dinner."

"Okay," Charlie said before I left the room.

After dinner I went up to me room to call Edward. I wanted to know his day with Alice went, and I wanted to let him know what had happened.

"Hi, love," Edward said when he picked up. I decided hearing him actually call me love was a thousand times better than reading it in a text.

"Hey, how was your day with Alice?" I asked.

"It was good," he replied, and I could hear the smile in his voice, "She actually talked me into going ice skating."

"Really?" I asked, trying to picture Edward on skates.

"Yeah, and it was actually a lot of fun," he said, "It was a good day."

"I'm really glad," I replied.

"How was your day?" Edward asked.

"Well, not quite as good. Jacob came by," I began and I could have sworn I heard Edward growl, "He gave me a necklace, told me he loved me, and kissed me."

"I'll kill him," Edward said and I could tell he was seething.

"Don't," I pleaded.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't," Edward replied.

"I don't want my dad to have to arrest the man I love for murder," I said.

"Oh. Okay then, fine," Edward said and sighed.

"Thank you," I replied.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," I said, "I promise."

"Okay, good," Edward said, "Can I at least threaten him with bodily harm the next time I see him?"

"Sure," I replied thinking Jacob could use a good scaring.

"Excellent," Edward replied cheerfully. After that Edward and I spent the next half hour talking about trivial things before saying good night. I was just climbing into bed when my phone rang again. I grabbed it without bothering to check the caller ID, figuring it was just Edward.

"Hello?" I said.

"Hey," Jacob replied, and I resisted the urge to curse.

"Um, hi," I said.

"I just wanted to apologize for today," Jacob said, "I was out of line, and I am sorry." I smiled, happy that Charlie had made good on his promise to call Billy.

"Thank you Jacob," I replied.

"I want to make it up to you," he continued.

"How?" I asked skeptically.

"I wanted to invite you and Edward to the New Year's Eve party we have in La Push," Jacob explained, "I thought it would be a good chance for us to start over."

"Um, okay," I replied. I didn't really want to go but I figured if Edward was with me it might be fun.

"Great, so I will see you then," Jacob said.

"See you then," I replied and hung up. I went to sleep hoping that Jake really was sorry and that maybe he was trying to change.

James POV

"Did it work?" I asked when the lovesick fool ended the call.

"Yeah, she is coming to the party," he replied excitedly.

God, it had almost been too easy.

After giving it some thought, I had decided that the only way to hurt Masen the way I had been hurt was to go after his girl. Yeah, I could kill him slowly and make him suffer, but eventually the pain would end and I didn't want that. I wanted him to suffer everyday like I did and the only way that was going to happen was if he lost the one he loved most.

I had been watching the girl's house today when I saw the lovesick puppy walk up to the door with a package in hand. Minutes later I watched with slight amusement as the girl shoved puppy boy out on the porch and slammed the door shut it in his face.

It was then that I knew for sure that I could use the kid.

In one of my recent outings to town I heard talk of a big New Year's Eve party that was supposed to take place in La Push. It was clear from his appearance that stalker #2 was from the reservation, and I knew if I could get him to get the girl to go the party I would be golden. It would be easy to slip into the chaos of the party and grab the girl.

When the boy walked off the front porch I pretended to be walking by and gave him a look of sympathy. I gave some bullshit about how what had just happened was awful and he shouldn't give up. I then took it a step farther and told I had been through something similar. Of course he wanted to know what had happened, and I told him it was a long story and I didn't have time to tell it right now. Just like I hoped, he asked if we could meet up later so I could tell him about it. The boy is clearly stupid and naïve.

I told him to meet me at First Beach at 8 o'clock and I would tell him my tale. He did.

I told him a story of love lost and gained that I had spent the rest of the afternoon cooking up. The little idiot ate it up and when I told him to call the girl, apologize, and invite her to the party as a way to clear the air, and again, he did.

"You're sure?" I asked, wanting to make absolutely sure she was coming.

"Yep," he replied.

"Excellent," I said.

"You'll be at the party, right?" he asked.

"Oh, I wouldn't miss it," I replied, thinking about how this would be a New Year to remember.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to sujari6, the captains wife, sandy4321, Xx-BMSC-xX for taking the time to review it means alot! Ok you guys I am sorry it has taken me so long to update. RL got busy. I usually write on the weekends because I work during the week and the past few weekends have been crazy. The first weekend in May I had my birthday, the second weekend was Mother's Day and I got Strep Throat and last weekend my younger brother graduated from college. Things should calm down now I promise. **

**Please Review! THANK YOU :)**


	16. Chapter 16

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Sixteen

The next couple of days were a blur, and before I knew it Edward and I were getting ready for the La Push party. I won't say I was excited, but going anywhere with Edward was okay in my book.

"Tell me again why we have to go to this thing," Edward said from his spot on my bed. I was finishing my make-up and he was lying on my bed flipping through the Wuthering Heights book he had given me for Christmas. I was surprised that Charlie was okay with Edward and I being alone in my room, but as a precaution he did insist on my bedroom door being wide open.

"We have to go because, like it or not, Jake is in my life. Thanks to our fathers, that is. I want us all to try to get along for their sake," I replied as I turned to face him, "And I think this party is the first step."

"Alright" Edward sighed as set the book on nightstand and stood up.

"Thank you" I wrapped my arms around Edward's neck and he brought his lips down to meet mine. It was just a quick kiss because we both knew Charlie was listening and if we went silent he would be up here in a second.

"Ready to go?" Edward asked louder than was probably necessary. I nodded and we linked arms before making our way downstairs. Charlie looked way to innocent when we walked downstairs and that just confirmed my suspicions.

"Have fun," Charlie said as Edward helped me with my coat.

"We'll try," I replied as I picked up my purse and we headed for the door.

"I want you home no later than 12:30," Charlie yelled over his shoulder.

"Okay," I called as we walked out the door.

The ride to La Push didn't take long, and when we got there the party was already in full swing. Edward got out of the car and ran around to help me with my door. When I stepped out of the car I pulled Edward's face down to meet mine so I could give him the kiss we were denied in my room.

"I love you," I murmured when we broke apart.

"I love you too," he replied with a warm smile. Edward's smile melted me and suddenly I wanted to be anywhere but here, at a party with lots of people.

"If this party gets to be too much and you want to leave, let me know," I said.

"Alright," Edward replied looking skeptical. I couldn't really blame him. Just minutes ago I was forcing him to go to this party and now I was clearly back peddling.

"I mean it. I promise, we will leave whenever you want," I continued.

"Bella," Edward said as he grabbed my hand.

"What?" I asked refusing to lift my head meet his eyes.

"Let's just go to the damn party," Edward replied.

"Fine," I huffed and walked forward to join the surprisingly large group of people on the beach.

You would think that having a party outside in the middle of the winter would be crazy, but it wasn't. With the bonfires and all the people it wasn't so bad. After a half an hour I was forced to admit that maybe this party wasn't so bad. Jacob, true to his promise, was being nice and polite, if he kept it up there was a real chance we could actually be friends.

I also spent some time talking to this girl Angela from school. We had English together, but she was pretty shy so we never really talked, but tonight with a few drinks in her she was a real chatter box. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Edward and Angela's boyfriend Ben talking and laughing. It would be really nice for Edward and I have another couple to hang out with, or just to have some friends, period.

"Hey," Edward said a few minutes later as he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, "Do you want to dance?"

"I'd love to," I said before turning back to Angela, "Do you mind?"

"Not at all," Angela said with happy smile, "I wanted to dance with Ben anyway."

"Have fun," I said as Ben walked up, "We'll talk later."

"For sure," Angela replied as Ben pulled her away.

Edward pulled me over to where Angela, Ben and all the other couples were dancing.

"They seem nice," I commented as we wrapped our arms around each other and slowing began swaying.

"Yeah, Ben is pretty cool," Edward said, and I could tell he was excited about having a male friend.

"Angela is really nice, even if she's a little drunk," I said and we laughed.

Even though there was alcohol at the party, Edward and I decided to play it safe and have water. Edward was driving and I didn't want to go home drunk and have to face the chief. When the song ended I realized that the water had caught up with me and I really needed to use the restroom. There were no bathrooms on the beach so I knew I was going to have to walk to the Black's house.

"Um, Edward, I have to go to the bathroom," I said.

"Where is the bathroom?" Edward asked.

"Well, I was thinking of walking to the Black's house and using theirs," I replied.

"Alright, let's go," he said.

"No, you stay here and enjoy the party," I insisted, "I'll be back in five minutes."

"Are you sure?" Edward asked, and I just nodded and stood on my tip toes to kiss his check.

"Hurry back," Edward said with a pout.

"I will," I promised. I began walking up the beach but stopped a moment later to turn and say:

"I love you!"

Edward said he loved me too and then I turned and walked up the beach.

I had a smile on my face when I stepped off the beach and turned a corner to head to the Black's house. I was lost in thoughts of love and Edward, and didn't notice the person stepping out from behind a car until they were pressing a cloth to my mouth.

I tried to struggle and fight back but things were getting fuzzy, and a second later everything went black.

JPOV

God, this went better than even I thought possible.

I was beginning to panic a little bit, thinking I wouldn't be able to get the girl alone, but luck must have been on my side. I had been watching them discreetly nearby, it was easy to blend in with a winter coat zipped up to my neck and stocking cap pulled down as low as it would go. When the girl said she had to pee I quickly hurried up the beach searching for a place to hide. I knew she would head to one of the houses just past the beach, so I hid behind a car just out of sight of the beach and waited.

I saw her a few seconds later, and was relieved to see lover boy wasn't with her. I pulled a small vial of Chloroform out of my pocket and dabbed it on small piece of cloth. I didn't waste time, and as soon as she was out I picked her up and carried her to my truck which was waiting just down the street. I threw her in the front seat and drove off quickly.

Now I just had to decide what to do with her once I got her back to my little shack in the woods.

The possibilities were endless.

EPOV

As soon as Bella headed for the Black's house, Ben and Angela came over and began talking to me again. It was nice talking to other kids my own age, and it made me realize how much I actually missed it. We talked about music, and after a while I glanced down at my watch and realized it had been ten minutes since Bella had left.

I didn't know how long it took to walk to Black's house and back to I decided to give her a little more time before I went after her. Ten minutes later I decided enough was enough and I excused myself to look for her. As I walked up the beach I realized I had no idea where the Black's house actually was, so I knew I needed to find Jacob.

It didn't take long. He was talking to a girl who appeared to be about his age. I hoped for Bella's sake that the two of them had hit it off.

"Jacob," I said to get his attention.

"Hey man," he said when he saw me.

"Bella left to go use the bathroom at your house and she has been gone for a while, so I was wondering if you could show me where it is."

"No problem," he replied, and turned to say good bye to the girl whose name was Leah. We walked to his house in silence, which wasn't surprising seeing as we had nothing in common to talk about. Well nothing but Bella, and I wasn't going to talk to him about her.

"Hey Pops," Jacob said to his dad when we walked in the door.

"Hi guys," He replied "How's the party?"

"It's good," Jacob replied, "Edward is looking for Bella."

"Oh, well I haven't seen her," Jacob's dad said as rolled his chair over to us.

"She said she was coming here to use the bathroom" I explained as I started to get a bad feeling.

"Oh?" Jacob's dad replied looking confused, "She hasn't been here."

"She is probably back on the beach," Jacob said. I nodded unconvinced as we headed for the door.

"Dad, will you call my cell if you hear from her?" Jacob asked.

"Sure son," Jacob's dad replied. Jacob and I hurried out the door and quickly made our way back to the beach.

"Edward," I heard as soon as we stepped foot on the beach. I looked to my right and saw Emmett standing there. I ignored him and kept walking, thankfully Jacob didn't question me.

"Edward wait," he called. I kept walking but he quickly caught up to me.

"Edward, I need to talk to you," Emmett said as he stopped in front of me and blocked my path.

"I don't have time for your crap right now Emmett," I said as I tried to push past him.

"It's about Bella," he replied as he grabbed my arm to stop me. Anger rushed through me as I pushed Emmett up against a nearby table.

"Did you do something to her?" I seethed.

"No," he said, "I was walking to my car and I saw some guy throw her into his truck and drive away."

"What?" I asked in horror as I released Emmett from my grasp.

"I came to find you but you weren't on the beach, and I was going to walk back and see if your car was still here but then I ran into you," he explained.

"What did the guy look like?" I asked as tried to keep myself together.

"I couldn't tell," Emmett said, "It was dark and he had his coat zipped all the way and a stocking cap on."

"Was Bella hurt?" I asked dreading the answer.

"I don't know, but she didn't seem to fighting him at all," Emmett said and I noticed he actually looked worried.

"Um, I think we should go back to my house and call Bella's dad," Jacob said. I glanced at him and noticed he looked as terrified as I felt.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," I agreed. The three of us silently walked back to Jacob's house. When we walked in the door Emmett and Jacob explained what had happened to Jacob's dad and he rushed off to call Charlie.

I sat down on the couch, put my head in my hands, and tried to make sense of what had happened in past half hour. Bella had been kidnapped, and I had no idea if she was hurt or even if she was alive.

I kept picturing her as she turned from her walk up the beach to yell out that she loved me. Bella, beautiful amazing Bella, had come into my life and changed it for the better. I had lost so much and I vowed I would do anything and everything I could to make sure I didn't lose Bella, too.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also too ANGEL FALLEN FROM HEAVEN, sujari6, the captains wife, sandy4321,1dreamkeeper,spoons are for marmalade skies for taking the time to read and review it means alot. **

**So I have the next 2 chapters ready to go and I will be posting the next one on Monday. Have a great weekend and see ya Monday!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	17. Chapter 17

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Seventeen

Pain.

My first realization when my eyes cracked open was pain. My head was throbbing and my wrists felt like they were on fire. I glanced down and gasped when I realized they were tied behind me and my feet were tied to the chair I was sitting in. I tried like hell to remember what had happened and to get my bearings, but the room was spinning, making it hard to focus. When I closed my eyes to fight off the dizziness I was bombarded by hazy images of the night before.

Talking to Angela…

Dancing with Edward…

Having to pee…

Walking to the Black's house…

Being grabbed from behind…

Having a cloth shoved over my face…

Terror seeped into my every pore as I slowly reopened my eyes. After blinking a few times to fight off the dizziness I was able to take in my surroundings.

I appeared to be in a cabin. It was clear from the lack of furniture and heat as well as the abundance of filth that this cabin hadn't been used in quite some time. The chair I was tied to sat next to a dingy, cracked kitchen table. I glanced behind me and saw a fridge and a sink full of dirty dishes. A stained couch sat across the room next a closed door, which I assumed lead to either a bedroom or a bathroom. At the moment I didn't really give a damn about what was behind the door, all I cared about was getting out of here alive.

I looked frantically around the kitchen for some kind sharp object to cut through the rope that was binding my hands. I nearly wept with relief when I saw the small knife sitting on one of the many dirty plates in the sink. Unfortunately the relief was short lived. In order to get to the knife I would have rock the chair a bit, and making noise was probably not a good idea. Whoever brought me to this hell hole was no doubt close by, probably on the other side of the closed door, and I didn't want to draw attention to myself.

After a second I realized it didn't matter. I wanted to get out of there no matter what the cost so I had to take this chance while I still had it. The nausea and dizziness from whatever had knocked me out were still prominent, but I pushed them aside and used every ounce of strength I had to rock the chair to the direction of the sink. On my first attempt I managed to move the chair a fraction of an inch, my second attempt I wasn't so lucky. I rocked the chair a little too hard and because my hands were behind my back I wasn't able to steady myself before I hit the floor.

The chair clattered loudly as it hit the wood floor and I held my breath when I heard a thump from the other room. Even though I couldn't see the closed door from my new position on the floor I had no trouble hearing it fly open. My mouth went dry and my pulse thudded in my ears as I listened to the booted footsteps get closer.

"Well, well, look who's awake," said a deep voice from above me as a pair of muddy boots came to a stop beside me.

An involuntary whimpering sound escaped me as I tried and failed to contain my fear. My breathing increased and in came out in little puffs in the cold air as I watched my kidnapper lower himself to my level.

"Hi princess," he said. A terrified scream ripped free from deep within me as I came face to face with a nightmare.

It was the Nomad. The man who haunted my dreams at night, the man I had seen flee a bank in what seemed like a lifetime ago, the man who murdered my mother in cold blood, was inches from me and I was powerless.

"That was quite the scream," Nomad said as he stood and righted my chair, "Too bad for you no one is around to hear it."

"I bet you wondering what's going on," he continued. Terror had fully consumed me and I was on the verge of hyperventilation so locating my voice to form a response proved impossible.

"I've been watching you and your boy toy for the past couple of months," he said, and suddenly all the feelings that I had had of being watched took on a whole new meaning, "You have shitty taste in men by the way.

"Masen ruined my life years ago, and I've been searching for him ever since so I could make him suffer the way I did. I lost someone very important because of him, and now I am going to make sure he knows exactly how that feels."

Confusion was starting to etch through the terror. My immediate thought had been that he had taken me to finish what he had started with my mom, but instead he was talking about Edward. I was still working on processing everything when he spoke again.

"God, you look familiar. When I first saw you with Masen I got the strangest sense of déjà vu."

"You killed my mom," I whispered before I could stop myself.

"What?" he asked, and disgust washed over me as I realized he sounded more amused that shocked or surprised.

"In Phoenix," I replied and watched as the all the pieces fell into place for him.

"You were in the car outside the bank," he said, pointing at me as if I were an old schoolmate that he just ran into. I didn't bother to reply, and it didn't seem to matter as he was too caught up in memories to notice me.

"I remember your mom," he said and everything in me froze, "She was a loud-mouthed bitch."

"Shut the hell up," I seethed as a haze of red fury momentarily crushed my terror.

"And apparently you are just like her," he said with a smug smile, "This just got a whole lot more interesting."

EPOV

Waiting for Charlie was excruciating.

With my head in my hands I sat on the couch and tried to make sense of what had just happened. Bella was gone, kidnapped, and it was entirely my fault. If I had just insisted on going with her, none of this would have happened.

I was vaguely aware of someone plopping down on the couch next to me but I was too busy cursing myself to pay attention to who it was.

"Hey," Emmett said, effectively solving the mystery of who was next to me.

"What," I said more harshly than was necessary. I was terrified, but I knew lashing out at Emmett wouldn't solve anything.

"Sorry," I apologized.

"Don't worry about it," he replied, "I just wanted to let you know that I called Carlisle and he is on his way over with Esme."

"Um, thanks," I managed. I glanced over at Emmett skeptically, because for the life of me I couldn't figure out why he was actually treating me like a normal human being.

"Okay, why are you doing this?" I asked.

"Doing what?" he said, confused.

"Being nice," I answered.

"What happened tonight was horrible, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone," he replied.

"Right. Well, thanks I guess," I said.

"You're welcome," he said.

"So, where is Rose?" I asked, even though I really didn't care. I just needed a distraction.

"Skiing in Colorado with her family," he replied. I was actually pretty relieved Rose wasn't here, because I was pretty sure she wouldn't have been as helpful or understanding as Emmett. Knowing Rose, she would probably just think Bella was getting what she deserved.

A knock on the door brought me out of my musings. I looked up just as Billy opened the door to reveal a frantic looking Charlie.

"Charlie I am sorry," I said as he came barreling into the house.

"What exactly happened?" he asked as he looked from one face to the next.

"Bella and I were dancing, and she had to go to the bathroom. She said she was going to come up here," I explained, "I told her I would come with her, but she told me stay down at the party."

"Then what happened?" he asked, and I could tell he was trying his best to stay in police mode. I think he knew if he went into father mode his emotions would get the best of him and it would be all over.

"I waited for Bella, and after a while I started to get worried so I found Jacob and asked him to take me up here to check on Bella. We got here and Billy said that he hadn't seen Bella. Jacob and I went back down to the beach to see if Bella was there and…and Emmett was there looking for me."

"Why were you looking for Edward?" Charlie asked as he turned to face Emmett.

"I was walking to my car and I saw a man throw Bella into his truck and drive away. The only thing I could think to do after that was to find Edward," he said.

"You didn't think about calling 911?" Charlie asked.

"I didn't have my phone, which was the reason I was walking to my car in the first place," Emmett explained.

"Alright" Charlie sighed and I could tell he was barely hanging on, "What did the guy look like?"

"I don't really know," Emmett said, "It was dark and he had a stocking cap pulled down almost to his eyes."

"What was he wearing?" Charlie asked, "I need a description."

"Um, jeans and a dark colored jacket," Emmett said.

"Do you know how tall he was?" Charlie asked and I could tell he was getting frustrated with the lack of details.

"I would say about 6'1," Emmett answered.

"What did the truck look like?" Charlie asked.

"Old beat up pickup truck," Emmett replied, "It was too dark to see what kind of pickup it was."

"Okay," Charlie replied. I watched him rub a hand over his face and I could tell he was not looking forward to whatever he was going to ask next.

"What condition was Bella in?" He asked and all traces of cop mode were gone. Now he was just a father who was worried about his daughter.

"She was unconscious but otherwise okay," Emmett said, "I mean she wasn't bleeding or anything."

Carlisle and Esme chose that moment to come bursting through the door with Alice right behind them. Esme and Carlisle quickly went over to Charlie while Alice came to me. Without saying a word she wrapped her arms around me and I felt myself crumble. All the fear and worry I had been holding back sprung forward and tears burned in my eyes.

"I'm so sorry Edward," Alice whispered as I held on tight. I could hear the tears in her voice and it killed me. Alice and Bella had become incredibly close, so I knew that this was hard on her as well.

"Me too," I replied as I bent down to kiss the top of her head. We let go of one another just as Esme hurried over.

"It's going to be alright Edward," she said as she held me close, "Bella is strong and she knows how to take care of herself."

"I know," I replied and forced myself to believe it. When Esme pulled away from me she turned to Emmett and kissed his check.

"Thank you for calling us and letting us know what was going on," she said.

"Um, you're welcome Aunt Esme," he replied looking a little flustered.

I looked over as Charlie, Carlisle, Billy and Jacob joined us.

"What are we going to do?" I asked. My gaze was trained on Charlie as I asked the question because I knew without having to ask that he was in charge.

"We are going to find my daughter," he said with such finality that I had no choice but to believe him.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: the captains wife, sandy4321, Xx-BMSC-xX for taking the time to read and review it means alot. The next chapter is ready to go and I will be posting it on Saturday!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	18. Chapter 18

**I don't own Twilight! **

**James is going to begin his revenge so I am going to put a violence warning on this chapter just to be safe. **

Chapter Eighteen

EPOV

After his final statement Charlie went off to make a call to the station. The rest of us waited in silence as he gave the information Emmett had given him to whoever was on the other end of the phone.

"Alright," Charlie said as he hung up, "My deputy has all the info and is putting out and APB."

"What do we do now?" I asked, wanting nothing more than to go out and start searching.

"We have to do what we can to figure out who this guy is who took Bella," Charlie explained, "If we figure out who he is, maybe we can figure out where he took her."

"Why can't we go out and starting looking for Bella?" I asked impatiently.

"I want that as much as you do, believe me Edward," Charlie said as he rested a hand on my shoulder, "The problem is we don't even know where to start, and taking random wrong guesses will waste more time then we have."

"Fine," I sighed in frustration.

"This is a small town," Charlie said as he started to pace, "if someone new came in, they would be noticed."

"Yeah," I agreed as thought of the buzz my arrival in town caused not to mention the frenzy when Bella arrived.

"Have any of you seen anyone out of the ordinary lately?" Charlie asked.

We all shook our heads no and Charlie continued on with on with his line of questions. I quickly tuned out because I noticed Jacob was looking a little strange. It almost seemed like he looked guilty.

"What do you know?" I asked looking Jacob straight in the eye. Charlie fell silent, and everyone turned to look at Jacob who clearly wanted to be anywhere else at the moment.

"Nothing," Jacob replied as he eyes darted back and forth.

"You're lying," I said, "Jake, if you care for Bella as much as you claim you do, then you need to tell us what you know."

Jacob sighed, and to my surprise he looked like he was fighting back tears. I wanted to feel bad for him, but if it turned out that he did have something to do with this I would never forgive him.

"Charlie, you asked if we had seen anyone new in town," Jacob said and Charlie nodded, "Well, I did."

"Why didn't you say so?" Charlie asked and I could tell he was trying to reign in his own frustration.

"I don't know," Jacob replied, "I just didn't think it was important."

"Fine, just tell us about this person you saw," Charlie said.

"Um, well it was right after Christmas when I brought that present to Bella," Jacob said. That stupid necklace was an even bigger pain in my ass than I originally thought.

"Wait, wait," Charlie said as he help up a hand, "You saw this guy at my house?"

"On the sidewalk outside your house," Jacob said.

"Why would think that wasn't important?" Charlie asked and I almost smiled when I saw him pinch the bridge of his nose like I do when I am frustrated.

"I don't know, that didn't seem bad," Jacob said and I truly saw just how naïve he really was.

"Did you talk to him?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Jacob said, "He noticed I looked upset so he asked me what was wrong."

"And you told him," I guessed.

"Yeah, I told him what had happened with Bella and he told me he had been through something similar."

"Did he tell you his name?" Charlie asked and Jacob shook his head no.

"Did he tell you what had happened to him?" I asked.

"Yeah, but not then," Jacob said.

"When?" I asked

"Well, I asked him to tell me what happened and he said was long story. He agreed to meet me at First Beach to tell me the story," Jacob said and I glanced at Billy and noticed he was looking at his son with disappointment clear in his eyes.

"And did you meet him there?" Charlie asked.

"Yeah," Jacob replied, "He told me his story and then he gave me some advice about how to get Bella to like me."

"What did he tell you to do?" Charlie asked.

"He told me to apologize for the necklace and then to do something as peace offering," Jacob replied and I noticed he was looking a little pale.

"Did he tell you to do something specific?" Charlie asked and Jacob nodded.

"What did he tell you to do?" I asked through clenched teeth as my patience threatened to snap.

"He told me I should invite her to the New Year's Eve party," Jacob whispered, finally realizing the significance of the stranger. Just then the doorbell rang, which was a good thing for Jacob because it saved his eye from meeting with my fist.

Billy went to open the door and Emmett leaned in to whisper in my ear, "This kid is an idiot."

He wasn't going to get any argument out of me.

"Hey Dean," Charlie said as he his deputy walked in the door.

"Chief," Dean nodded, "APB is out and there are officers all over town looking for your daughter."

"Alright, let me finish up with him," Charlie looked at Jacob then back at Dean, "Then I'll check in with everyone." Dean just nodded and stood off to the side to wait for Charlie.

"Did you see the guy at the party, Jake?" Charlie asked.

"No, but he said he was going to be there," Jacob said.

"What did this guy look like?" Charlie asked.

"Um he had long blonde hair that was pulled back into a pony tail sticking out of the back of his hat, blue eyes, scruffy beard, jeans, winter jacket and boots."

I watched as Charlie froze at the mention of the pony tail and I frowned as I tried to figure out why that would be important.

"Jacob," Charlie said as he pulled out his phone, "I am going to show you a picture and I want you to tell me if it is the guy you saw."

I watched as Charlie passed the phone Jacob. I was slightly impressed that Charlie had police records on his phone.

"Um, well this guy is wearing sunglasses," Jacob said as he studied the phone, "but I think it's him."

"Shit," Charlie muttered, and my stomach dropped at the look of absolute terror on his face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"The Nomad," Charlie whispered and my blood went cold. I knew all about him thanks to Bella. The Nomad was the man who had killed Bella's mother as well as countless others. In other words, Bella was in the hands of a mad man.

BPOV

_Shit, shit, shit!_

This was the only thing my brain was capable of thinking at the moment.

Only I would be dumb enough to give the murderer holding me captive more of a reason to hurt me. This guy was already pissed because of whatever happened with Edward and I had to go and let him know I was a witness to one of his killing sprees. Any chance of him keeping me alive just flew out the window.

"You probably think I am going to kill you now," he said echoing my thoughts. I didn't bother to answer and it was clear he wasn't expecting me to as he just kept talking.

"I will," he said, "Just not yet."

"Why?" I whispered, "Why not just get it over with?"

"Oh, because first we are going to have a little fun," he replied with a sinister smile. I flinched as he pulled something out his pocket, but instead of the weapon I was expecting he held a purple cell phone. I quickly realized it was my cell phone.

"I took this off of you before I tied you up," he said, "I hope you don't mind." The phone made its annoying little jingle as he turned it on and I noticed that whatever he saw on the screen seemed to amuse him.

"Lover boy is frantic," he said, "There must be at least twenty missed calls on here." Tears rushed to my eyes as I thought about Edward and how out of his mind with worry he and Charlie must have been at that point. If Edward had gone missing I know I would have been a wreck.

"I say we send him a message," he said.

At first I was confused as I watched him set the phone down but when he reached for the knife the confusion quickly turned to terror. I began frantically tugging at the ropes in a last ditch effort to get free. I knew it was useless and a wasted effort but I was desperate.

"Stupid girl," he murmured as he crouched down next to me and began rolling up my sleeve. I felt the cool steel of the blade as he gently touched it to my skin. Bit by bit he added more pressure until a small trickle of blood began to ooze down my arm. I looked at my captor's face and noticed a look of absolute glee on his face; he was enjoying this.

Apparently watching me bleed wasn't enough because he starting moving the knife and sawing away at my flesh. Screams of anguish ripped out of me as he carved and inflicted a pain like I had never known on me. Finally, after what seemed like hours but was actually minutes, he set the knife down and stood back to admire his work. He nodded in what I assumed was satisfaction and picked up my picked my phone.

He squatted down next to me and took a picture of whatever it was he had just carved into my arm. As he typed in a message to go with the picture I fought to keep my eyes open. The blood loss and the pain had taken their toll on me and I was quickly losing consciousness.

He hit send and turned off the phone before he turned his gaze back towards me.

"I think you have had enough for tonight," he said, and I blinked to keep him in focus, "We will pick up where we left off bright and early tomorrow." I watched him walk out of the room with the knife and my cell phone before everything went black.

EPOV

Charlie had gone over everything with Jacob again and again before he left to go to the station. I knew he wanted to update his men on this latest development and I suspected he wanted to get away from Jacob for a while. I know I wanted to, but I also knew it was best to wait here until we heard anything more. I had been calling Bella nonstop in the hopes that she would pick up but so far I heard nothing.

I scanned the room to see what the others were up to and saw that Esme, Carlisle, and Emmett were sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee and taking in hushed tones. Billy had taken Jacob into another room; I figured he had a few choice words for his son that he didn't want us to hear. Alice was sleeping on the couch next to me and her head was resting on my shoulder. I gave her forehead a quick peck before I gently lowered her head onto a pillow so I could stand.

I got my own cup of coffee and was about to ask the others what they were talking about when my phone beeped. I pulled it out and saw that I had a new text message, my heart leapt when I saw it was from Bella.

"I got a text message from Bella," I said and everyone hurried to where I was standing. I clicked on the little envelope to open the message and had to fight to hold it together when I saw what was waiting for me.

The picture was bad enough, this psychopath had carved a heart into Bella's beautiful perfect skin and it was dripping with blood, but the note was what scared me the most.

_This is just the beginning lover boy._

What else did this lunatic have in store for Bella?

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: the captains wife, jadedghost22, sujari6, leah1398, sandy4321, Xx-BMSC-xX for taking the time to read and review it means alot.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**I don't own Twilight!**

**Violence warning again just in case**

Chapter Nineteen

BPOV

I wasn't exactly sure how long I had been out this time; the sun shining through the dingy window told me it had been at least a couple of hours. Moving side to side to relieve the stiffness that had set in quickly proved to be a bad idea. Searing pain shot up my arm and I instantly stopped moving. When I looked down I saw a bandage covering my gruesome tattoo from the night before. Part of me had hoped that it had all been a bad dream, but the evidence on my arm told me it had all been very real.

The worst part wasn't what he did to my arm, but that he sent a picture of what he did to Edward. I couldn't even imagine went through Edward's head when he saw it. The terror and helplessness had to be unbearable.

It wasn't just Edward that I was worried about, though. I was all my dad had left, and I knew he would do anything or risk anything to get me back. The thought of my dad and Edward risking their lives to save me sent a new wave of terror through me. They were the two most important people in my life, and I couldn't lose them. With that in mind I felt a new determination rise up inside of me. I would get out of here and back to the people I love, and I would make sure nothing happened to them in the process.

The only problem with my new plan was that I no way out. I was tied to a chair with nothing around to cut through the rope, but more than that I was weak. Between the drug that had knocked me out and the bleeding from my arm wound, I was pretty drained. If it came down to it, I wasn't convinced I would be able to fight off my kidnapper. I wasn't going to give up, though. The beginnings of a plan were forming; all I needed to do was buy some time so I could get some strength. I closed my eyes and attempted to drift back into oblivion.

It must have worked because the next thing I knew I was lying in a meadow with Edward. The meadow was beautiful, and had an almost magical quality about it. It was in the woods, surrounded by trees, and the wildflowers of every color gave it such beauty. But Edward lying next to me with his hand in mine gave it its magic.

"Edward, where are we?" I whispered afraid to break the spell.

"I don't know," he replied as he shifted us so my head was resting on his chest.

"It's so pretty," I said.

"Not as pretty as you," Edward said as he grinned down at me.

"That was cheesy," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"Maybe," Edward agreed, "but it's true."

We were silent for a minute as we basked in the glow of the beauty around us and the feeling of being with each other. The only sound was the stead beat of Edward's heart.

"I love you Edward," I said.

"I love you too," he replied before gently kissing my forehead. No words were needed after that. It was heaven, lying on a bed of flowers with Edward, the sun beating down and the perfume of the flowers surrounding us. I was truly in my happy place.

I was ripped from my happy place by the slamming of a door. I jerked awake, which was a mistake as it sent a new wave of fiery pain up my arm.

"Wake up time sleepy head," my kidnapper said as he sauntered into the room. I watched as he walked in the kitchen and began digging in a cabinet. A minute later he pulled out a can of soup and a pot. He put the pot on the stove, turned it on, and dumped in the soup. While the soup was heating he went the window and looked out. It was clear he wasn't going to be making conversation and that was just fine with me.

When the soup was done he brought it to the table next to me and grabbed a chair which he placed in front of me. He sat in the chair, picked up a spoon, and dipped it into the soup. I was shocked when he held the spoon full of hot soup up to my lips.

"Eat," he ordered. "I am not nearly done with you, and I don't want to lose you before I am done having my fun."

I sighed before doing what he asked. I knew he was only feeding me so he could torture me longer, but I needed my strength so I wasn't going to argue. It was tomato soup, and it wasn't too bad. The pot and spoon he was serving it with were completely disgusting. I ended up closing my eyes so I would have to see them because the last thing I needed was to throw up the little bit of substance I had been given.

When the soup was gone he threw the dishes in the sink without bothering to even wash them. Not that I was surprised.

"Alright," he said as he turned to face me, "Ready for round two?"

I hadn't noticed that he had left the oven on, but when he took a second spoon and set it on the red hot burner I gasped in horror. A few seconds later he grabbed the cold end of the spoon and walked toward me. Despite the pain my arms I rocked back and forth in a futile attempt to escape.

He looked me up and down with a look of amusement and anticipation on his face. He squatted down in front of me and rolled up my pant leg.

My movements got more and more frantic as the spoon got closer and closer to my skin. When the scalding hot metal spoon finally came in contact with my skin I let out a blood curdling scream.

EPOV

"Edward, wake up,"

I groaned as someone shook my shoulder and I was pulled from my dream of Bella and I in a meadow. I blinked a few times to adjust to the sun light, and it took me a minute to reorganize my brain enough to remember where I am.

As I take in the Black's small living room the horror of the night before comes flooding back to me.

"Hey," I look up and see Emmett standing there with a steaming mug in his hand.

"Hey," I grunt as I sit up and rub a hand over my face to clear away the last remnants of fatigue.

"Esme asked me to bring you this," he said, handing me the mug. I sigh as the scent of strong coffee enters my nostrils.

"Thanks," I say, taking a gulp and not caring that it burns my mouth.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"In the kitchen," Emmett replied.

"Why are you still here?" I asked curiously.

"I'm in this now. I'm not going anywhere," he said. With that declaration I find a new admiration for my cousin.

"Do they know anything?" I asked with a tiny spark of hope.

"No," he answers, and with that the spark dies. "Charlie is in the process of putting together search parties to search the woods." It's good idea but the problem is that most of Forks is made up of woods, so it's a lot of ground to cover.

"I want in," I said.

"Charlie figured you would, but he thinks you should stay here," Emmett replied.

"Why?" I demanded.

"Well, it's pretty clear that the freak who has Bella is only communicating with you, so Charlie wants you here in case you hear anything else."

"Fine," I sighed because it actually was a good point. Emmett opened his mouth to say something, but the ding of my phone cut him off. It was another text from Bella's phone.

"Shit," I muttered as I held my phone and worked up the courage to open the message.

"Better just get it over with man," Emmett said as he clamped a hand on my shoulder. I clicked open the message and Emmett and I swore in unison. It was a picture of Bella's leg, and it was filled with bright red welts. The message with it said:

_Your girl is burning to see you again, lover boy. Having fun yet? I know I am!_

"This sick fuck really gets off on this," Emmett said in disgust. I was too busy trying to calm the rage that was building up inside me to respond. Unfortunately for Jacob he chose that moment to enter the room.

"You son of a bitch," I growled as I stalked over to him and held out my phone. "Do see this?"

"Yes," He said with a gulp.

"This is Bella's leg," I flipped back to the first message, "and this is her arm."

I saw him wince and try to look away, but I just held the phone closer to his face.

"You are the reason that her beautiful skin is now cut and burned."

"I'm sorry," Jacob whimpered, and I noticed he was actually crying, "I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"Well it did," I spat. Fury was shooting through every pore in my body as curled my hand into a fist and swung it directly into Jacob's nose. Jacob grabbed his nose, and the momentum of the punch knocked him back into the coffee table. I watched as he landed on top of the coffee cup I had just set down on the table.

I heard the breaking of glass and then Jacob howled in pain. The noise from the crash had brought everyone from the kitchen into the room.

Carlisle rushed over and went to work on helping Jacob. Billy looked on in terror as Carlisle prodded at his son. It was pretty clear from the blood gushing from Jacob's nose that it was broken, and when he rolled to the side I saw he had a piece of the mug in his thigh.

"What the hell happened?" Carlisle demanded.

"I…I…" Reality had crashed back into me and I couldn't speak as I stared in horror at what I had just done. Luckily Emmett wasn't fazed and had no trouble filling everyone in.

"Edward got another message," he explained, "There was a picture of Bella's leg and it had burn marks all over it. Jacob was unfortunate enough to walk in seconds after Edward got the message, and he got the brunt of Edward's rage."

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked quietly as I sunk down to the couch.

"We need to get him to hospital to remove the shard," Carlisle explained. "Once it's out he will need some stitches and his nose will need to be reset, but he should be fine."

"I'm so sorry," I said as Esme grabbed her car keys and Carlisle helped Jacob to the door. Billy was rolling out behind them.

"Stay here," Carlisle demanded as he looked me dead in the eye.

"I really am sorry," I said to Billy as he reached the door. Billy just nodded and without a word kept rolling. Alice was staring at me from across the room and I could tell she was trying to decide if she should approach me or not.

"Are you okay?" she asked. I just nodded and she rushed over and wrapped her arms around me.

"You're scaring me," she sobbed into my neck as she held on tight.

"I'm scaring myself," I admitted as I stroked her hair.

"It was a damn good punch though," Emmett said from next to me.

"Shut up Emmett," I growled. This incident made one thing abundantly clear. I was way more on edge than I thought, and if we didn't find Bella soon I was going to end up doing something drastic.

Something I couldn't take back.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: gypsy411, the captains wife, sujari6, Xx-BMSC-xX, Australopithecus Karinsis,jadedghost22, leah1398,faxness4evr, sandy4321 for taking the time to leave a review it means alot.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	20. Chapter 20

**I don't own Twilight**

Chapter 20

I slowly open my eyes and groan when I realize that I am still trapped in hell. Apparently the pain from the latest torture was enough to knock me out…again. I am pretty sure that since I have been here, I have spent more time unconscious than awake. It's probably for the best.

I look down at my legs and choke back tears when I see the angry red welts that now reside there. Edward probably received another text, as I have no doubt that the mad man wanted to show off his handiwork. I can only imagine how Edward reacted.

Thinking of Edward is a mistake because it only serves to break my heart. I miss him terribly, and there is a very real chance I will never see him again. That last thought is so unbearable that I push it from my mind and strengthen my resolve to find a way out of this nightmare.

"Well, well…looks like you are up again," says a cold voice. I look up to see the devil himself, standing in the bedroom doorway. For some unknown reason I have sudden urge to know this man's name.

"What is your name?" I whispered.

"J," he replied before strolling into the room.

"Why do you hate Edward?" I asked. I figured the safest thing for me was to keep him talking. If he is talking, then he isn't hurting me.

"He killed someone I loved," he replied as he looked out the window.

"Edward has never killed anybody," I replied, defensively. J's eyes moved from the window to me. It's clear from his heated glare that he is not pleased with my last response.

"You have no idea what your boyfriend has done, you little bitch!" he growled before his hand viciously slapped me across the face. Without another word, J stormed into the bedroom and slammed the door shut. I whimpered at the fiery pain that radiated from my cheek. When it finally subsided and I felt in control once more, I began working on the escape plan that I started before the spoon incident. It's pretty simple, but hopefully effective.

To start, I have to ask J if I can go the bathroom. With any luck there is a window in there and he lets me go by myself. If there is a window, then I can hopefully crawl out of it without making enough noise to alert him to what I am doing. There are so many things that could wrong with this plan, but I know it's the only chance I have, so I have no choice.

I wait for what seems like forever for J to come back into the room. I pass the time by thinking about Edward and my dad and how much I desperately wanted to see them. Finally, after what seemed like hours, J came back into the room and I am relieved to see that he has calmed down a bit.

"I…I…" I begin, but my fear got the best of me and I lost control of my voice.

"What is it?" J snapped.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I whispered. J sighed, and I watched his face as he endured some sort of internal battle. I could tell he really didn't want to untie me, but it was also clear he didn't want to clean up any kind of accident.

"Fine," he muttered as he began to untie me. I had a fleeting idea that maybe I could overpower him, but when I stood up I quickly realized the impossibility of that idea. Not only was I weak from lack of sleep and sore from my injuries, but my joints were very stiff from sitting in the same position for so long. If I tried to take J on he would have had me back in that chair in two seconds flat.

"Well, go on then," J said, giving me a shove in the direction of the bedroom. I take this to mean that the bathroom is connected to the bedroom and J has no intention of helping me there. I stumbled forward, but could only walk slowly. The burns on my legs felt like the worst sunburn I had ever had, times ten. Even with the pain, however, it felt good to stretch my muscles, and with each step I gathered more and more strength.

By the time I made it to the bedroom, my joints were no longer as stiff. I walked past a bed, and couldn't help but notice the disgustingly stained sheets and piles of dirty clothes. I slipped inside of the bathroom door at the other end of the room, and immediately cursed to myself because there was no lock. I glanced around and noticed with relief, however, that there was a window. I started to reach for the window, but stopped because I actually did have to go to the bathroom. I never made it to the Black's house to use the bathroom, so the urge is there, stronger than ever.

One look at the toilet had my stomach rolling in disgust at the stains, but my desperation forced me to ignore it and do my business quickly. Once done, I turned back to the window, flipped the lock, and attempted to push the window up. It was a little sticky, but after a few pushes it was up far enough for me to fit through. I prayed that J was still in the kitchen, far enough away that he wasn't able to hear the slight creaking noise the window made.

I hoisted myself up and threw one leg out of the window. I held back a scream, because it was my burned leg and stretching hurt like hell. I quickly maneuvered the rest of my body outside of the window and turned. I had to resist the urge to scream once again when I saw J standing there.

"Do you really think I am that stupid?" he asked as he threw me to the ground.

"Teach you to mess with me," he growled and kicked me hard in the side. I heard the sickening sound of a bone breaking before pain erupted in me once again. He kicked again and there was another crunch as he broke yet another rib. After the third kick I blacked out, and when I awoke I was once again tied to the chair. Only this time there was a gun pointed at me.

"Fun time is over," J sneered.

EPOV

Ten minutes after everyone leaves with Jacob, Charlie walks into the Black's house and finds me pacing the living room. Emmett, who has not been affected at all by what happened to Jacob, is snoring away on the couch.

"So, do you want to tell me what happened?" Charlie asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Basically, I got another text and took my anger and frustration out on Jacob," I explained.

"I understand your frustration, believe me I do, but you can't go around hitting people," Charlie said.

"He didn't hit him. He punched him," Emmett voice comes from the couch letting us know he is awake.

"You can't punch people either," Charlie said.

"I know sir, it won't happen again," I promised.

"Alright, let me see the text," Charlie said, holding out his hand for my phone. I handed it to him after I scrolled through and found the text. I was careful not to look at the picture as I handed him the phone, because I know I can't handle seeing it again.

"Jesus," Charlie hissed.

"I know," I whispered as I recalled the horror the picture brought me.

"We have to catch this son of a bitch," Charlie growled, and all I could do is nod in agreement.

"Do you have any leads on where they might be?" I asked in desperation.

"No," Charlie replied looking defeated.

"Is there any way you can track Bella's phone?" I asked.

"No, because it's never on long enough for us to get a trace on it," Charlie answered, "We have tried, believe me."

"Alright," I sighed in frustration.

"We spent the night canvassing Forks and the surrounding area, but so far nothing," Charlie explained.

"Do you think he could be in the woods somewhere?" I asked.

"It's possible, but there is so much ground to cover there, it's going to take a while before we know for sure." I had happened to glance at Emmett when Charlie was talking and I noticed he was sitting up and had a rather serious look on his face.

"Emmett, what is it?" I asked.

"I just thought of something," Emmett said, "A place where this guy could have taken Bella."

"Where?" Charlie asked.

"There is this cabin. Well, really, it's a shack. My friends and I used to hang out in it when we were younger," Emmett explained, "It's pretty disgusting, but we thought it was cool back in middle school."

"Where is it?" Charlie asked with desperation and hope in his voice.

"Actually, it's sort of by your place," Emmett said as he looked at me.

"Can you take us there?" Charlie asked as he grabbed his coat.

"Um, sure," Emmet replied. We all rushed outside and piled into my car, with Emmett at the wheel.

"Are you going to call this in?" I asked Charlie.

"No, there is a chance they won't be there, and I don't want my men to stop searching and waste time if that is the case," Charlie explained. Emmett drove faster than the speed limit, which Charlie ignores, and a few minutes later we came to a stop in front of a run-down cabin. We got out of the car and slowly made our way over to one of the grimy windows. What we saw through the grime and the dirt made my blood run cold.

Bella was tied to a chair, battered and unconscious. The freak who was holding her captive is sitting in front of her with a gun.

"What do we do?" Emmett whispered in horror.

"This guy is clearly unstable, so we have to be smart about this," Charlie said, and I can tell he is frantically trying to come up with a plan.

"I have to go in," I whispered without thinking, but once I the words were out I know that it was true.

"No," Charlie snapped.

"Look, he is sending me the texts, so it's clear he has some issue with me," I explained, "I think I am the only one who could get in safely." Charlie struggled with the realization that I was right against not wanting to let anyone else be put in danger. The idea of getting his daughter out safely made my idea an easy choice for him, because a few seconds later he sighed, nodding his head.

"Fine," he said, "But we're going to wait until backup gets here." Charlie's radio crackled to life as he made the call to dispatch, but to no avail. The dense trees made it impossible to get a decent signal. Charlie muttered an obscenity as he looked around for some sort of idea.

"I'm going to walk back out towards the main road so I can reach someone. You both wait here for me to get back, got it?" he said, hurrying back the way we came.

"Fine," I agreed, and turned back to the window to watch Bella, still out cold in the chair. Emmett was watching me and looking around, trying to formulate a plan.

"Hey," he finally said, "I think we need the car. This guy isn't going to come willingly, and who knows if Bella can walk very easily." He had a good point.

"If you promise me you'll stay here, I'll go get it," he said, obviously not trusting me any more than Charlie did not to charge in there and try to be the hero.

"Go," I told him, nodding. As Emmett ran off to get the car, I spotted Bella in the window, her beautiful brown eyes blinking open. The look of absolute terror and pain on her face was enough to make me break my promises to Charlie and Emmett. Bursting in didn't seem like a good idea, so I raised my hand and knocked loudly on the door.

I heard curses before the sounds of a chair being pulled across the floor; the bastard was trying to hide Bella from his unexpected guest. When the screeching of the chair stopped, I heard the sound of his boots as he clomped back to the door.

"What?" he growled as he threw open the door.

Seeing this guy face to face for the first time makes my anger rear up like never before. Everything about him pisses me off, from his dirty blonde pony tail to his dirty flannel shirt and jeans.

"Well, well," he said with a sinister smile, "Lover boy is here."

"Where is she?" I growled. Instead of answering he reaches over and grabs the gun of the counter.

"Come in," he said, pointing the gun at my chest. I did as he said, and once I was inside he slams the door shut and locks it.

"Sit," he ordered and pointed to a chair with the gun. Again, I obey the sadistic bastard.

"Let me just go get the little bitch and we can get this party started," he said, backing away from me toward another room. The urge to attack him was strong, and I had to remind myself over and over again that he has a gun.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: jarindanielle, faxness4evr, the captains wife, gothgirl1245, sujari6, Xx-BMSC-xX, sandy4321, jadedghost22, leah1398 for taking the time to leave a review. It means alot.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	21. Chapter 21

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Twenty One

EPOV

I watched, absolutely horrified, as The Nomad, or whatever the hell Charlie had called him, dragged Bella back into the room. My heart ached when I saw the condition Bella was in. It was clear by the way that she struggled to hold her head up that she was weak. When she looked up I saw bruises all over her beautiful face, and when she tried to move she flinched, which no doubt was from pain. Right then I vowed that this monster would pay for what he did to Bella.

"Edward," Bella whispered in disbelief.

"Hi beautiful," I murmured, wanting nothing more than to go to her. Unfortunately, I still had a gun pointed at my head which made that an unwise choice.

"As touching as this little reunion is," The Nomad snapped, "it's time to move on to bigger and better things."

"Like what, you sick bastard?" I spat. The Nomad growled and smacked me across the face with the butt of the gun. Hot red pain seared across my face, but I was thankful he hadn't used the other end of the gun.

"Mind your manners, boy," he seethed.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked as I clutched my cheek, "What do you want from us?"

"I don't really want anything from her," he looked at Bella before returning his gaze to me, "You, on the other hand, I want to suffer."

"Why?" I asked, not understanding why this man I had never laid eyes on hated me so much.

"It's pretty simple really," he explained, "You took away the most important thing in my life, causing me insurmountable pain, so now I am just returning the favor."

"What are you talking about, what did I take away from you?" I asked.

"My Victoria," he said and I watched a ripple of pain ghost across his face.

"I don't know what you are talking about," I said even more confused than ever "I have never met anyone named Victoria."

"You are right, you never met her," he said as stalked over to my chair, "but you killed her."

"What?" I gasped in horror as his rage-filled face came within an inch of mine.

"What, you don't remember the car accident?" he breathed, his rancid breath filling my nostrils.

"The…" I began before everything clicked into place. I flashed back to that night years ago. The pain and the terror I felt as we rushed to hospital, the helplessness as we slid through the intersection, and the deafening crunch as we collided with the other car. And finally, the devastation of waking up and finding out that my parents had died.

It was clear now that this desperate, crazed man in front of me had been a passenger in the other car.

The car we hit.

Whoever this Victoria person was, it was clear she had been in the car with him and had suffered the same fate as my parents.

"You were in the other car," I whispered.

"So, you do remember?" he spat.

"I could never forget that night," I replied.

"Yeah, I imagine it would be hard to forget killing someone," he said.

Everything in me longed to say "you would know," but I restrained myself, knowing that wouldn't be the smartest of things to say to mad man with a gun.

"It is," I said instead.

"Edward," Bella wheezed, "what happened wasn't your fault."

"Oh that is cute. Your little gal pal is trying to defend you," The Nomad smirked evilly before going over and giving Bella a matching smack with the butt of the gun.

"Bella!" I cried, and moved to get out my seat before I was stopped by the gun that was once again pointed in my direction.

"Don't move," The Nomad seethed. I nodded showing that I understood while frantically looking at Bella who had passed out after the blow to the head.

"Admit that the accident was your fault," he barked as he shoved his face in mine again.

"I was a kid, I was sick, and my parents were just trying to get me to the hospital," I explained in a whisper, "I lost them just like you lost Victoria."

"See, if it wasn't for you, your parents wouldn't have been on the road," he smirked in triumph.

It was clear that this man was far past sanity and there was no point in trying to reason with him. For Bella's sake as well as my own, I decided it was best to agree with him. I also knew I had to stall him until Charlie and Emmett returned, hopefully with backup. The only way I could think to do that was by keeping him talking.

"You're right," I agreed, "So, what are you going to do now?"

"I'm going to destroy you," he said sinisterly.

"How did you even find me?" I asked, hoping the explanation would buy me some time.

"It wasn't easy," he began, "Basically, I went from town to town looking for clues that would lead me to you, and I had contacts that helped me out. I had a little side project for making money. I would rob banks and occasionally there would be a few casualties. Precious Bella's mom was one of them. Turns out I knew your girlfriend before you did. I knew she looked familiar the first time I saw her with you, but I just couldn't remember from where. Bella herself filled me in on the details."

"Yeah, I know all about you, Nomad," I replied, and the bastard smiled.

"The FBI is so creative when it comes to names," he said with a roll of his eyes. I was about to say something else when I flash of light from the direction of the window caught my eye. Charlie and Emmett had finally returned. The flash of light momentarily caught The Nomad's eye and I seized the opportunity. I dove at The Nomad and we rolled to the floor.

We were both fighting for control of the gun when I slid backward.

My head hit the counter.

The gun went off.

Then everything went black.

BPOV

My face was throbbing as I carefully lifted my lids. It took me a minute to adjust to my surroundings. I was expecting to wake up in hell yet again and was shocked when I took in the room around me.

I was in a hospital room; that much was clear. The beige walls with the generic art that I assumed was supposed to be soothing, and the TV mounted to the ceiling, gave it away. Not to mention the beeping that was coming from the tubes I was hooked up to. I racked my brain trying to figure what had happened and how I had gotten here when I remembered Edward.

Edward had shown up at the cabin to save me.

I had no idea what had happened after James knocked me out with the butt of his gun, and I was starting to freak out as horrible, bloody scenarios played out in my head. It was a good thing nobody else was in the room because the heart monitor was going wild as my panic increased.

"Bella," I looked up and saw the worried face of my father as he came rushing into the room.

"Dad," I whimpered, part happiness and part pain, as he sat down on the bed and pulled me into his arms. My now taped up ribs were still killing me. I really hoped one of things they were pumping into me was a pain killer.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked as he pulled away.

"A little," I admitted, "my ribs are sore."

"I'm so sorry honey," Charlie said as he bent down to kiss my forehead.

"How bad am I?" I asked.

"Well, you have three broken ribs, burns on your legs, and the cut on your arm," Charlie explained, "You have some pretty nasty bruises, too." Charlie stood up and paced, and I could tell he was trying to control the anger that was threatening to erupt.

"If he wasn't already dead, I would kill that bastard for what he did to you," Charlie seethed.

"What?" I asked in disbelief, "He's dead?"

"Yes, thanks to Edward," my dad said, with what I could have sworn was a proud smile on his face.

"Dad, where is Edward?" I asked in desperation, "is he okay?"

"He is in the room next door," Charlie explained, "I'm not entirely sure what happened, but when I entered the cabin Edward was unconscious and James had a bullet in his chest."

"James?"

"Yeah, that was The Nomad's real name," Charlie responded, "I found I.D. on him."

"What is wrong with Edward?" I asked as I tried and failed to sit up in bed.

"Just lie still," Charlie said. As he fussed over me, it was clear to both of us that he was out of his element, "Edward is still unconscious."

"But…but that's bad, right?" I stuttered as I tried to ward of the panic, "he should be awake by now, shouldn't he?"

"Carlisle checked him out and said that he has a concussion and some bruising on his face, but he should be fine."

"I want to see him," I insisted as I once again try to sit up. Charlie had no trouble overpowering me and I huffed when I was lying safely back down. Carlisle chose that moment to walk into room.

"You're not trying to leave us already, are you?" he joked.

"I want to see Edward," I knew I sounded like a five year old who didn't get her way but I didn't care.

"I am afraid that's not possible right now," Carlisle said, and I could tell he was upset that he had to tell me no. "We just set your ribs, and moving around could cause further damage."

I nodded and bit my lip to keep my tears at bay.

"I am sorry," Carlisle said as he came over to examine me. After his check, Carlisle informed me that as long as I didn't move around too much my ribs should heal nicely, he gave me some balm to help treat the burns, and he said as soon as the cut on my arm healed he would give me some cream that would help with any scarring.

Once Carlisle was done he informed Charlie that visiting hours were over and I needed my rest. Charlie grudgingly agreed and with one last peck on the forehead I was left alone. I closed my eyes to try to make sense of everything I learned from Charlie, but after just a few minutes I was fast asleep. Unfortunately my sleep was not peaceful, between the nightmares and the nurses waking me up to check my vitals, it was a wonder I got any sleep.

About a half an hour after my last nurse check, I was once again woken up, but this time I didn't mind at all. I was woken up by a pair of warm, soft lips pressing gently to my own. My eyes flew open and once they adjusted to the darkness I was able to make out Edward's beautiful face.

Edward was sitting on the edge of my bed with the portable I.V. he had wheeled in here standing next to him.

"Hi love," he breathed as he gently stroked his thumb up and down my chest.

"Hi," I whispered, and for the first time in days I felt a smile creep on my face.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Better now," I replied, "How about you?"

"Never better," he said with a breathtaking smile, "Although I could do without the concussion."

"I'm so sorry," I said, "How is your head?"

"First, none of this your fault, so I don't want to hear any apologizing," Edward began before I cut him off.

"That goes both ways; this isn't your fault either," I was hoping my look would work in the dark but I wasn't too sure.

"I know," Edward replied with a sigh before quickly moving on, "Second, my head hurts like hell but I am sure I will live. The nurses who have been waking me up every half an hour might not be so lucky."

I snorted, which caused Edward to break in a fit of silent laughter. Before I knew it we were both lost in fits of laughter. After the last couple of days laughter never felt so good. It also helped that my pain meds had finally kicked in. Once we had calmed ourselves, Edward glanced towards the door then back at me with a look of sadness.

"I should probably get back to my room before they realize I'm gone," he sighed.

"I don't want you to go," I said as I squeezed his hand in mine.

"Oh screw it," he said as he carefully got into bed with me. I snuggled into Edward's chest and sighed in contentment.

"What happens when one of the nightmare nurses walks in and finds you here?" I asked.

"Maybe I'll get special treatment because I am Carlisle's nephew," Edward said hopefully.

"We can only hope," I agreed. I drifted off to sleep happily in Edward's arms. I knew tomorrow would be filled with questions about what happened, but right now I was in my own little slice of heaven.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to: sujari6, the captains wife, jadedghost22,leah1398, austexfan, sandy4321, Xx-BMSC-xX, gothgirl1245 for taking the time to leave a review it means alot!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANKS :)**


	22. Chapter 22

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Twenty Two

EPOV

"What are you doing in here?"

I silently cursed the shrill voice that had interrupted my sleep as I cracked my eyes open. I was pretty sure I had only had my eyes closed for two seconds and that was not nearly enough.

"Sleeping," I croaked.

"You need to get back to your own room Mr. Masen," the nurse said as she came around to help me out the bed. The only way she was going to get me out this bed was by forcibly removing me and I really didn't see that happening.

"I'm staying here," I whispered so I wouldn't wake Bella.

"Don't be difficult," the nurse scolded and grabbed my arm to help me up.

"Look, Bella and I have been through hell these last couple of days. I didn't know if I was ever going to see her again, and now that I have her back alive and well I am not letting her go. Also, if I move Bella will wake up and she needs her rest."

"Fine," the nurse said with a sigh, "Due to your circumstances I will make an exception this once."

"Thank you," I replied in relief.

"Let me check your vitals and I will let you get back to sleep." After she did just that, the nurse told me she would see me again in half hour and left. After a very restless night, the sun began to shine through the window and Bella began to stir against me.

"Morning," she mumbled and buried her face into my chest.

"Morning, love," I replied, and kissed the top of her head. Even though I was exhausted and my head was still killing me, it was the best morning I had had in really long time.

"You stayed," Bella said and I could hear the grin in her voice.

"Nothing could keep me away from you," I replied, "although one nurse tried."

"You didn't get in trouble, did you?" she asked as she tipped her face up to look at me.

"No, she understood why I didn't want to leave," I explained. Carlisle walked into the room just as I finished talking; he took one look at us together in Bella bed and smiled.

"Why am I not surprised?" he said.

"We were apart long enough," I said and Bella nodded in agreement.

"Alright, how are you two feeling today?" he asked.

"My head still hurts, but other than that I am fine," I replied.

"I feel better," Bella said quietly, "I mean my ribs still hurt, but I don't feel as weak."

"Good. Edward we are going to get you another CAT scan, and Bella we will check your injuries again," Carlisle explained, "then you two should be free to go."

"Really?" Bella asked and I could hear the excitement in her voice.

"Yes, but you need to take it easy," Carlisle said, "I know you are supposed to be in school, but I want you to take some more time to heal. Bella you especially, I don't want you to do any more damage to your ribs."

"Okay," we responded together. I am pretty sure school was the last thing on either of our minds.

"Great, now how about some breakfast?" With that Carlisle left the room to get us some breakfast trays. Bella and I dined on toast and eggs. It wasn't much but Bella enjoyed every bite which made me smile. We were just finishing our last bites when Esme and Alice walked into the room. Esme took one look at us and tears came to her eyes.

"I am so glad you are both okay," she said as she rushed over and kissed our foreheads.

"It's good to see you Esme," Bella said and smiled as Esme stroked her hair in a maternal sort of way.

"I was so scared," I looked over and saw Alice fighting back tears. I sat up, pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms tightly around her. I felt her tears as the dampened my shirt and enough was enough to bring to tears to my eyes.

"Shhh," I said as I rubbed her back soothingly, "It's alright squirt, we are all okay."

"I thought I was going to lose you too," Alice said, and it nearly broke my heart.

"Hey," I said and lifted her chin so she was forced to look me in the eye, "You are not going to lose me. I am afraid you are going to be stuck with me for a very, very long time."

"Promise?" Alice sniffled.

"Yes," I said, "I'm sorry I scared you."

"I love you, big brother," Alice said as she wiped her eyes.

"I love you too, little sis," I said and kissed her forehead.

"I love you too Bella," Alice said she looked over at Bella who was also wiping away tears.

"I love you too Alice," Bella said. Alice kissed my cheek before bending down to kiss Bella's. After one last hug, Alice hopped down and stood next to Esme. A throat cleared and I looked over and saw Carlisle standing in the door. I didn't know how long he had been standing there, but I was thankful he had given Alice and me our moment.

"Edward, it's time for your scan," he said as he wheeled a wheel chair over the bed. I could walk but Carlisle had to follow hospital rules. I was hesitant to leave Bella, but Esme promised she would stay with her until I got back.

Luckily my scan didn't take long, and the results looked good so Carlisle said I was free to go whenever I was ready. When we got back to the room Charlie was there, Bella had been checked out, and she had been given the all clear.

We gathered our belongings and were both put into wheel chairs and our families wheeled us out. Charlie and I helped Bella into his truck, and after promising I would see her soon, I said good bye and climbed into Carlisle's car.

BPOV

Saying goodbye to Edward in the hospital parking lot was hard, actually saying good bye to his whole family was hard. After everything I went through, it was nice to be surrounded by the people I loved.

Alice nearly broke my heart earlier with her tears and her words. I hoped that once I was feeling better we could have some girl time; I figured we both could use it. When we got home Charlie helped me into bed.

"Do you need anything?" he asked as I got settled.

"No, I think I am okay," I replied.

"Alright, I'll let you get some rest, but I'll just be downstairs if you do need anything," Charlie said and I nodded.

After all of the craziness of the hospital and the past few days, the silence was nice. It gave me time to process everything that had happened and to decide where to go from here. I was actually surprised at how well I was handling this mess, mentally. James being dead was a huge relief to me, knowing that he could no longer hurt me eased any lingering fears. If anything I was just anxious to put this whole mess behind me and move forward.

Tomorrow I was going to have to talk to the police and tell them what had happened. I knew it wouldn't be fun or easy, but it had to be done. Edward would be there too because of course they needed to talk to him as well, and I knew his presence would sooth my nerves. Before long I felt myself drift off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next morning came soon enough and I woke to the sound of voices come from downstairs. I recognized them instantly as Charlie and Esme. After a minute the voices faded away and the sound of footsteps on the stairs told me they were on their way up.

"Morning," Charlie said when they came into the room.

"Morning," I said shyly. I hadn't been able to shower in the hospital because of the bandages around my ribs and I was suddenly self conscious of my appearance.

"I can take it from here," Esme said and smiled at Charlie.

"Alright," Charlie replied awkwardly before making his way back down stairs.

"What's going on?" I asked when Charlie had gone.

"I know that you can't shower but I figured you wanted to get cleaned up and thought I could help," Esme said as she sat down on my bed and took my hand in hers.

"Thank you," I said with such relief and gratitude that she laughed. Esme brought my computer chair into the bathroom and set it in front the sink before helping me up and into the chair. Once my head resting in the sink she turned on the warm water and washed my hair. Once that was done she found a wash cloth, which she dampened and filled with soap before leaving the room so I could wash the rest of my body.

When I was done with that and with brushing my teeth, she came back in with some clean pajamas and helped me change. After everything was done and I was back in my bed I felt one hundred times better.

"Thank you so much Esme," I said as she prepared to leave.

"My pleasure dear," she said with a warm smile, "If you need anything else all you have to do is call."

"Thank you" I said again as she left the room. I heard her say goodbye to Charlie and as soon as she was gone Charlie made his way back upstairs. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was carrying a tray with food and my pain meds on it.

"I thought you might be hungry," he said as he the tray in front of me.

"I am, thanks," I said as I dug into the scrambled eggs. Charlie sat with me while I ate and filled me in on what was going to happen later that day. Since I was still weak and not able to go anywhere the police were going to come to me. Charlie said he would help me down to the living room and I was relieved because I really didn't want the police officers in my room.

Edward would be coming here as well since the police wanted to get this all out of the way at once. It seemed like they were as anxious as me to put this to rest.

"I'll bring this tray down and then come back up and get you," Charlie said when I had finished my food and taken my pill.

"Okay," I replied.

As soon as Charlie was down the stairs the doorbell rang. All it took was a greeting and I knew it was Edward. The sound of his voice caused my heart to race, and I smiled hearing the sound of his footsteps on the stairs. When he walked into the room he smiled when he saw me. I'm sure I must have looked much better than when he saw me in the hospital, and I couldn't help but think that even with the bruises on his faces he was sill beautiful.

"Hey," he said as he sat down on the bed and gave me a gentle kiss.

"Hi," I replied and felt myself flush.

"How are you feeling today?" he asked as he brushed a strand of hair out of my face.

"Better, thanks to Esme," I said with smile.

"Yeah, she told me she came by," Edward said.

"She helped me get cleaned up," I explained and Edward nodded in understanding. We both fell silent when the doorbell rang. We listened to muted voices and a minute later Charlie came upstairs.

"The police are here," he said, "Edward, are Esme and Carlisle on their way?" Edward and I were still minors so we couldn't be questioned without a parent or guardian present.

"Yes sir," he replied.

"Good," he replied, "I need to head back down, would you mind helping Bella downstairs?"

"Not at all," Edward said with smile. Charlie left and Edward gently lifted me from the bed and carried me down stairs. Once I was safely on the couch Edward sat down, pulled my feet into his lap and began to massage them.

We waited in silence for Esme and Carlisle to arrive

so we could begin.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to faxness4evr, Olivia, gothgirl1245, the captains wife, sujari6, gypsy411, Holidai, Xx-BMSC-xX, jadedghost22, sandy4321 and the person who left a guest review for taking the time to leave a review it means alot! **

**So good news and bad news. Good news: I have 2 more chapters ready to go and I will post one a saturday and one on Monday. Bad news: This story is coming to and end :( I only have the Epilogue left to write and I will probably get that done this weekend. I will be sad to see this end.**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	23. Chapter 23

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Twenty Three

EPOV

I sat contently on the couch rubbing Bella's feet. As far as I was concerned, Carlisle and Esme could take their time. This was much better use of my time than answering the painful questions the police were sure to have. Unfortunately my luck ran out a few minute later when a knock on the door signaled the arrival of my aunt and uncle.

"Sorry we are late," Esme apologized as the hurried into the house and took off their coats.

"No problem," one of the officers replied with a polite smile. Esme and Carlisle exchanged greetings with Charlie before sitting down on the love seat.

"Alright, I'm Officer Miller, and this is Officer Morgan," Officer Miller began, "Charlie assigned us to this case."

"That's right," Officer Morgan continued "Now, normally we would be doing this at the station, but because of Bella's condition we are bending the rules."

"Also, under normal circumstances we would question you separately, but again because of Bella's condition we will make an exception," Miller finished. I breathed a sigh of relief at the last piece of information, because I knew this would easier for Bella and me if we could do it together.

"Alright, we will start with Bella, and Edward add in your side as we go along," Miller said and we both nodded.

"We have a witness that says he saw you get attacked from behind and then placed in a truck before the attacker drove away," Morgan began, "Is that accurate?"

"Yes, I think so," Bella replied quietly, "James put a cloth with some sort of drug up to my face and I passed out, and when I woke up I was tied to a chair in his cabin."

"Ok, we have copies of the text messages he sent Edward as well as copies of your medical records, so we know about the injuries you sustained. Did he give a reason as to why he caused your injuries?" Morgan asked.

"Um…he…he said he wanted Edward to see me suffer so he cut me and sent Edward a picture, then he burned me with a spoon and sent Edward a picture of that," Bella explained with difficulty, I continued to rub her feet in an effort to calm her. "He broke my ribs because I tried to escape, and it made him angry."

"We will get back to that in second, but first can one of you tell me why he wanted Edward to see you suffer?" Miller asked.

"I will," I replied looking from Bella to the officers.

"Go ahead son," Morgan said.

"When I was 12 I got sick in the middle of the night and my parents had to take me to the hospital. It was snowing really hard and we slid through an intersection. We crashed head on into another car, and my parents died. James and his pregnant wife were in the other car, and she died, too. Somehow he found out about me and blamed me for their deaths. Ever since that night he has been trying to track me down so could make me pay."

"Edward," Esme whispered in horror as I finished. I looked at Esme and Carlisle, and they both looked horrified and heartbroken.

"I know," I replied.

"I'm very sorry for your loss son," Morgan said, "I'm even sorrier that this man decided to place the blame for a tragic accident on a 12 year old. I think it's clear that this man had some physiological issues."

"Yes," Bella agreed and I knew she was afraid I was blaming myself again.

"We have a statement from Jacob Black saying he talked to James outside your home, is that correct?" Miller asked Charlie as continued to move things along.

"WHAT?" Bella asked in outrage and I had to restrain her as she tried to sit up.

"Yes, that is correct," Charlie said

"What did Jake do?" Bella asked.

"Edward can tell you later," Charlie said, clearly wanting to keep the questioning going. Bella sighed and nodded before settling herself on the couch once more.

"Tell us more about your escape, Bella," Morgan said.

"I told him that I had to go to the bathroom," Bella explained, "When I got in the bathroom I tried to climb out the window, but he was waiting outside and caught me." I had to admit I was slightly impressed with Bella's attempt. My guess is that if she had been in a better condition it would have worked.

"Chief Swan, how did you guys find the cabin in the woods?" Morgan asked.

"Edward's cousin, Emmett, knew of it and thought it would be smart to check there," Charlie explained, "Turns out he was right."

"Emmett?" Bella asked, looking confused.

"I'll explain that later, too," I replied and she nodded.

"So, you got to the cabin and saw that James and Bella were inside?" Morgan asked.

"Yes, Charlie tried to call for back up but his radio didn't work so he went to the road to see if he could get it to work. Charlie told us to stay put but Emmett went to go get the car because we figured we would need it," I explained.

"That was extremely dangerous entering the cabin like that. Why did you?" Miller asked.

"I was desperate, he had a gun and I was afraid he was going to kill Bella. I knocked on the door because I didn't think barging in would be a good idea. I heard him move Bella into another room, and then he answered the door. When he saw it was me he went and got Bella, pointed the gun at me and told me to sit in one of the kitchen chairs."

"James started yelling at Edward about how it was his fault his wife was dead. I tried to defend Edward, and James didn't like that, so he hit me with the butt of the gun and I passed out," Bella picked up where I left off.

"He hit me with the gun, too. I think he would have done more but a gleam from the headlights of the car distracted him. I took that opportunity to try to get the gun away from him. We fought, my head hit the counter and I passed out. Just before I passed out I heard the gun go off. I guess it was pointed at James when it went off," I finished.

"Alright, I think that is enough for now," Morgan said as he and Miller stood up, "If you can think of anything you want to add you can contact us."

"Thank you," Charlie said as he led his officers out.

BPOV

As soon as the officers were gone we said our goodbyes to Esme and Carlisle, and Edward carried me back up to my room. I noticed Esme gave Edward a longer hug than normal when she said her good bye; I could only imagine her thoughts after hearing Edward's words.

Not only did she find out who had been in the other car the night her sister died, she also found out that the guy had gone on a killing spree as he tried to hunt down her nephew. It was a lot to take in.

"Edward you should be home with your family," I said once I was settled in bed.

"Actually, I think it's best if I give Esme and Carlisle some time to digest everything before I go home," Edward replied, "It will be easier to work through everything with them once they have had a chance to talk and adjust."

'"If you are sure," I said skeptically.

"I am," he said, "Are you feeling alright after all of that?"

"I'm a little tired, but other than that I am okay," I replied and sighed as he stroked my hair.

"I can leave if you want to rest," he said looking worried.

"No," I said more quickly than I probably should have.

"Alright," Edward said with a smile.

"You said you would explain things later," I pointed out, "It's later."

"So it is," Edward agreed, "Shall I start with Emmett or Jacob?"

"Emmett I guess," I replied because as far as I knew Edward and Emmett still hated each other.

"Well, first off, Emmett was the one who saw you get taken. Once he realized what had happened he came and found me. I was with Jake looking for you, so when Emmett told us what had happened we ran to Jake's house and called your dad. Emmett was actually pretty great, he stayed with me the entire time we were searching for you. Turns out he doesn't hate me or blame me for anything, he was just afraid to go against his mother. I can't really blame him, since she can be pretty terrifying."

"Wow," Bella said in shock when I had finished.

"Yeah, I know," Edward agreed.

"I'll have to thank Emmett for everything he did," I said in awe.

"I think we both owe him a big thank you," Edward said.

"Okay, now tell me about Jake," I said through gritted teeth.

"Jake," Edward said with a frustrated sigh, "After you rejected his present he left and ran into James."

"Outside this house?" I asked.

"Yes," Edward replied, "I guess they talked and James was all sympathetic, telling Jake that he been through something similar. When Jake asked him about his story, James said it was long story and Jake asked if they could meet later so he could hear the story. James of course agreed and the met later at First Beach. James told him some made up story, and Jake believed it. James then convinced Jake to invite you and I to the New Year's Eve party, telling him it was great way to make things right with you. James obviously had other motives, but Jake agreed and, well, you know the rest."

"So, Jake not only struck up a conversation with a strange man but met with said man at an empty beach late at night?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yep," Edward replied

"What an idiot!" I replied, "God, I would think he would have spent enough time with Charlie to know better than that."

"Well Jacob isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed," Edward said.

"No kidding," I replied as doorbell rang. A few minutes later Charlie came upstairs looking slightly uncomfortable.

"You have a visitor," he said, and I noticed Jake lingering behind him.

"Speak of the idiot," Edward mumbled so quietly that I was the only one who heard.

"It's okay, Dad," I said as I tried to suppress a smile.

"Alright, but behave," Charlie said before he disappeared down the stairs. Jacob walked slowly into the room and I noticed a rather nasty bruise on his face, and a slight limp in his step. It also didn't escape my notice that he was giving Edward a wide birth. I would have to ask Edward what had happened later.

"Hi Jake," I said.

"Hi Bella," he said quietly, "How are you?"

"I've been better," I replied, still mad as hell at his stupidity.

"I'm so sorry Bella," he said, and I noticed he looked close to tears, "I was so stupid."

"Yeah," I agreed, "Just promise me you will use a little common sense from now on."

"I will, I promise," Jacob said with a small smile.

"Good," I said with a small smile because I really didn't want him to start crying, "Well, I am kind of tired."

"Of course, I'll let you get some rest," Jacob said as moved toward the doors. "The guys from La Push who gave me a ride are outside waiting anyway."

"Alright," I said as I didn't really know what else to say.

"Okay, bye," Jacob said as he walked out the door.

"Bye," I replied right before he disappeared.

"Okay, tell me what happened to his face," I said to Edward as soon as Jake was out of sight.

"It may or may not have come into contact with my fist," Edward said and I could tell he was fighting back a smirk.

"And why was he limping?" I asked with a raised eyebrow as I tried to contain a smile of my own.

"He may or may not have fallen into a table and landed on a coffee mug," Edward replied.

"Oh my god, Edward," I said as I tried to control my giggle. I really shouldn't have found it funny but I couldn't help it.

"It was an accident," Edward said before we broke out into full out laughter. The laughing hurt my ribs a little, but I was laughing with Edward for the first time in what felt like forever, and it felt amazing.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to the captains wife, Xx-BMSC-xX, Holidai, sandy4321, sujari6 for taking the time to leave a review, it means alot! **

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**I don't own Twilight!**

Chapter Twenty Four

BPOV

_February _

I sighed as I lifted my shirt and looked in the bathroom. It had been a month since everything happened, and my ribs were almost healed. The pain was gone, but I still had some light bruises on my ribcage. They didn't really bother me; I had long since gotten use to seeing bruises on my body. They were just a reminder of everything I wanted go forget.

Thankfully, the burns on my legs had healed and gone away; the heart on my arm was another story. It was still scabbed over and I couldn't wait until for it to heal completely so I could start using the scar cream Carlisle gave me.

With one final look I dropped my shirt and ran downstairs to meet Edward.

As was usual, Edward was waiting in his car; he drove me to school every morning. I actually loved having Edward drive me to school, we got to spend more time together and I didn't have to worry about my truck breaking down if I wasn't driving it.

Things still weren't great between me and Jake and I couldn't even imagine how uncomfortable it would be if I had to take my truck to him.

"Hey beautiful," Edward said when I got into the car.

"Hey," I said and leaned over to kiss on gently on the lips.

The drive was uneventful and when we got to school I smiled. I loved being back at school, after everything that had happened it brought a sense of normalcy to my life. In some ways school was still the same as it had been before Christmas break. People still didn't talk to us, but it was because the really didn't know what to say. I guess I couldn't really blame them, because what do you say to someone who had been kidnapped?

School was also better in some ways. Edward and I no longer sat alone at out lunch table, Angela and Ben sat with us and surprisingly so did Emmett and Rose. Okay, Rose only sat there because Emmett did, and they were still joined at the lips, but at least she was trying to be cordial now.

"So, do I even get a hint about tonight?" I asked we walked into school. It was Valentine's Day, and Edward said he had a big surprise for me. I had been trying like crazy to get him to spill the beans, but had so far been unsuccessful.

"Nope," Edward said when we arrived at my first class.

"Please?" I pouted.

"Nope," Edward said again before kissing my forehead and walking away to go to his own class. I spent the rest of the day trying to get Edward to talk, but the man was a rock. Nothing I did would get him to talk.

"I'll see you soon," Edward said with smirk as he dropped me off at home.

"Yeah, yeah," I grumbled as I started to get out of the car. Edward grabbed my hand and pulled me back so he could give me one last kiss.

"I love you," he said, and I sighed. I really couldn't stay mad at him.

"I love you too," I replied before hoping out heading for the front door.

I spent the next hour getting ready for my mystery date with Edward. The only thing that Edward had told me was to dress warm. With that in mind I dressed in a sweater, some skinny jeans and my UGGs. Esme gave them to me as a get well present, and at first I protested because I knew they weren't cheap. Once I put them on and felt the soft warmth cocoon my feet, my protests quickly stopped.

Edward arrived just as I had finished, and after saying goodbye to Charlie I grabbed Edward's present and my winter coat that I got for Christmas and headed outside.

"Hey," Edward said as he held the car door open for me.

"Hi," I replied as kissed him and then slide into the car.

"So, where are we going?" I asked once Edward started driving.

"Be patient, we will be there soon," Edward said, and I had to resist the urge to growl.

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?" I asked.

"A little bit," Edward said with a smile. I shook my head and attempted to hide my smile. Truth is, after everything that had happened it was nice to joke around with Edward like this.

"Where are we?" I asked in confusion when Edward pulled over on to the side of the side of the road.

"Um, do you trust me?" he asked as he helped me out of the car.

"Of course," I replied without hesitation.

"Good, then get on my back," Edward said as he crouched. I clutched his present to my chest and did as he asked. I held on tight as Edward walked, and after about ten minutes he helped me down and took my hand.

We took a few steps forward and I froze. We were in a meadow, and not just any meadow, but the meadow I dreamed about being in with Edward when I was trying to find a happy place. It looked slightly different because it was winter and not summer like it had been in my dream, but it was defiantly the same place.

The ground was covered in snow so there were no flowers, but the trees were beautiful. Icicles hung from the branches and glistened. Edward had hung up some white twinkle lights so the whole area seemed to sparkle. There was a blanket on sitting on it were two steaming mugs of hot chocolate.

"Edward, how did you find this place?" I asked in amazement.

"Well, I had to do something while you were with Alice," Edward said, referring to girl time Alice and I have every Saturday.

"You hike through the woods?" I asked.

"It's nice to be out in the fresh air," Edward replied.

"It's so weird," I said, and I began to wander around the meadow.

"I didn't know me hiking would be so strange," Edward said getting slightly defensive.

"Not that," I said with a laugh, "It's just, I had a dream about this exact meadow." I stopped my investigation long enough to look at Edward, and I noticed he had a look of bewilderment on his face.

"What?" I asked.

"I dreamt about this meadow too," he said, "When you were missing I managed to fall asleep once, and I dreamt about the two of us, and we were here."

"I had my dream when I was being held captive," I admitted as walked over to Edward, "It was my happy place."

"We really are connected," Edward said as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Yeah," I sighed happily into his chest.

"When I found this place I couldn't believe it was actually real," Edward said, "I couldn't wait to share it with you, but I guess we already shared it." I looked up at Edward and we both smiled before our lips came together with such passion I went weak in the knees.

"Let's sit down and have some hot chocolate," Edward said as he led me over to the blanket. We sat and began to sip the warm chocolate heaven. It warmed me right up and fought any lingering chills I had from the brisk evening. It helped that Edward had his arms around me, too.

"Do you want your present?" I asked as we sipped our drinks.

"Sure," Edward said as he reached for the gift I held out. Edward and I had agreed to make our presents instead of buying them, and I was little bit nervous about what he would think of his gift.

Edward had the wrapping paper off in no time, and he gasped when he saw what was inside. I had made a photo album with pictures of us in it. There were pictures of Edward when he was growing up, me when I was growing up and pictures of the two of us together. Esme had helped me with the pictures of Edward and Charlie helped me with pictures of me.

"Bella, this is wonderful," he said as he flipped through the album.

"You like it?" I asked nervously.

"I love it," he replied as he pulled me closer and we looked at the pictures. I loved the pictures of Edward when he was little, he was adorable.

"Do you want your present now?" Edward asked after he had looked through the whole album a couple of times.

"Yes," I replied as he pulled a wrapped square out of his inside jacket pocket. I quickly opened it and looked at the CD case with an unmarked CD in it.

"What is it?" I asked as I turned it over in my hands.

"I recorded some of my songs for you," Edward explained, "Your lullaby is on it, along with Esme's song, Claire De Lune, and a couple others."

"Thank you Edward," I said emotionally, "It's wonderful." We sat there for a while longer just holding each other and drinking our hot chocolate. Soon the cold got to be too much and we packed up to leave. We turned off the lights but left them there because we knew would be back soon.

When Edward dropped me off we shared one last kiss before Charlie appeared and I was forced to go inside. That night I dreamt of Edward and me at the meadow again. It was better this time though, because it wasn't an escape. I wasn't worried about waking up, because I knew when I woke up Edward would be there.

EPOV

_March_

"Are you almost ready, love?" I asked Bella as I walked into her room.

"Just about," she replied as she closed her suitcase. It was spring break, and unlike most kids who used the time to hit the nearest tropical beach, Bella and I were using the time to get closure. We were spending the first part of our trip in Arizona and the second part in Chicago.

We both had goodbyes we needed to say before we moved on to the next chapter of our life together. Our families were joining us, and were in fact waiting downstairs. Charlie had grown impatient and asked me to check on Bella see what was taking so long.

"Let's go," Bella said when she finished zipping her suitcase. I grabbed its handle, and we made our way downstairs to our anxious families.

The flight to Phoenix was smooth and in what seemed like no time we were piling out of cabs in front of Bella's old house. Bella knocked on the front door and when there was no answer she reached under the mat and pulled out a key.

"Nice to see some things haven't changed," she said as she unlocked the door so we could go in. Phil was in the middle of moving, so there were boxes and bubble wrap everywhere. Mostly everything had been packed but there was still furniture so we all sat down in living room.

"Your house is lovely," Esme said to Bella.

"Thanks," Bella replied as she looked around, "It was better when things weren't in boxes though."

"Well, either way I think it is beautiful," Esme said and Bella smiled. The sound of the garage door going up alerted us to Phil's arrival. We all waited quietly for him to come in and when he did Bella ran to him and threw her arms around him.

"Phil, it's so good to see you," Bella said when they pulled away.

"You have no idea how good it is to see you," Phil said, "The terror I felt when Charlie called and told me what happened to you is something I have only felt one other time in my life. Thank god this tuned out differently. " It was clear that Phil was talking about when Bella's mom died.

Bella nodded with tears in her eyes and they hugged again. When they were done Charlie walked over and shook Phil's hand.

"Good to see you," Charlie said.

"You too," Phil replied before turning to me and my family, "Are you two going to introduce me?"

"Oh sorry," Bella said with an embarrassed laugh, "Of course." The four of us stood and walked over to join the others.

"This is Carlisle, Esme, Alice," Bella said and pointed to each one, "and this is Edward." When she said my name she wrapped her arms around my waist and let her head rest on my shoulder. I gladly wound my arms around her.

"It's nice to meet all of you," Phil said to my family and I watched as he shook Carlisle's hand and hugged Alice and Esme.

"So you are the boyfriend?" Phil said as he turned to me.

"Yes sir," I replied.

"Thank you," he said taking me totally by surprise.

"What?" I asked in shock.

"For saving Bella," He explained, "I understand you put your own life on the line. That was either very brave or very stupid, but either way I can't thank you enough."

"You're welcome," I said as we shook hands, "but you really don't need to thank me. I love her and I would do anything to protect her."

"I can see that," Phil said, "Okay, enough of this heavy stuff, who is hungry?"

"I am," Alice said and we laughed. Phil ordered pizza and we spent the evening eating and talking and laughing. When it was time for bed, Bella, Alice and Esme headed into Bella's room and Charlie, Carlisle and I made ourselves comfortable in the living room.

The next morning Bella, Charlie, Phil and I climbed into Phil's car to make a trip to the cemetery to see Renee. My family was going to explore the city while we were gone.

I held tightly to Bella's hand as we got out of the car. This was one of the main reasons for the trip and I knew how hard it was for Bella.

We all gathered around Renee's grave and stood in silence. Charlie stepped up first and began to talk.

"Hi, Renee. Thank you for looking after our baby girl. When she was taken, one of the small comforts I had was knowing you were up there looking after her and keeping her safe. The other reason she is home safe is because of a pretty amazing young man. As much as I hate that our daughter is dating, I don't think she could have picked a better guy. I wish you could be here to see how happy Bella is with him. I miss you." Charlie laid a flower on Renee's grave and stepped back. Bella grabbed my hand and we stepped forward.

"Hi Mom," she said through her tears, "I miss you so much." I wrapped my arm around her shoulder because I could tell she was barely keeping it together. It seemed to strengthen her because she carried on.

"This is Edward, the one Dad was just telling you about."

"Hi Renee," I said quietly.

"Mom, I love him so much. I wish you could have met him, you would have loved him too. Edward makes me so happy. Sometimes I feel guilty about being so happy when you're not here, but I know you wouldn't want that, so I do my best to fight it. I don't know when I am going to get a chance to come back here, so I just wanted to tell you that I am happy and that I love you so much. Dad said he knew you were looking after me, I know you are too and it comforts me to know you are always with me. I'm not going to say goodbye because I plan to carry you with me in my heart. I love you, Mom." Bella placed a flower and the grave and then turned into me and I held tight as she sobbed.

"I'll look after her," I promised Renee as I placed my flower on the grave. Charlie, Bella and I walked back to car to give Phil some privacy with Renee. When he returned to the car he eyes were red and blotchy. With Phil moving to Florida I knew this was the last time he would see Renee for awhile. The car ride home was quiet as was the rest of the night. It was hard day and we just needed to time to be with our thoughts.

The next day Bella and I explored the city on our own. Bella showed me her favorite places and it warmed my heart to see her smile again. The next day we got on a plane to Chicago so I could say my own goodbyes.

We checked into our hotel, and Bella and Charlie went to their room while my family went to ours. We had a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant. The following morning Bella and I along with my family piled into a cab. Charlie was going to spend the day sightseeing.

It didn't take long to get to the cemetery. Carlisle and Esme lead us to my parents' graves and once there we stood in silence and looked at their head stones.

Esme stepped forward and went to stand by her sister's grave.

"Hey Liz, I'm sorry it's been so long since we have been here. A lot has been going on, but don't worry the kids are doing fine. Better than fine actually, Edward met somebody. That's right sis, your little boy is dating. I know you would be freaking out if you were here, but more than that I know you would love Bella. I'll let Edward tell you about her. I love you. I miss you."

Esme stepped away and I grabbed Bella's hand and we walked forward.

"Hi Mom, hi Dad, I miss you guys so much. I've always blamed myself and believed that I was the reason you ended up here. Certain things have happened lately to help me realize that I was wrong. Some of it was bad and I won't get into that, but some of it was amazing. The amazing is standing right next to me, her name is Bella. I have never met anyone as strong as Bella. Esme is right, you would have loved her. I love her and I wish you could have met her. I am happy now and I think you guys would be proud of me, at least I hope you would. I love you guys so much." I placed some flowers on each of their headstones and wrapped my arms around Bella.

"I'll take care of him," I heard her whisper as she placed flowers of her own on their graves. We stepped back and Alice made her way forward. I watched her and say she was trembling a little so I stepped forward and put my arm around her shoulder.

"Hi Mommy, hi Daddy," she said quietly, "I miss you guys a lot. I wish you could meet Bella too, because she is so nice. I wish you could meet my friend Jasper, too. I love you." Alice placed her flowers and we made our way back to the cab.

We spent the next day sightseeing and before we knew it we were back in Forks. As hard as the trip had been, it had been rewarding, too. Bella and I got to talk to our parents and it allowed us to get the closure we both needed.

As a result of the trip we were both lighter and freer and for the first time in a long time I knew we had nothing to worry about.

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn! Thanks also to spunkransom12, Holidai, the captains wife, Xx-BMSC-xX, gothgirl1245, sandy4321, sujari6 for taking the time to leave a review it means alot!**

**So this is the last regular chapter :( Just the Epilogue left!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! THANK YOU :)**


	25. Epi

**I don't own Twilight!**

Epilogue

BPOV

Nine Years Later...

"Edward, we have to go!" I called up the stairs.

"Be right down," he called back, and I groaned when I looked at the clock again. If we didn't leave in the next five minutes we were going to be late, and Alice would never let us hear the end of it. I still couldn't believe that little Alice was eighteen and graduating from high school.

"Sorry," Edward said as he came downstairs and pulled me from my thoughts, "Ray decided to become a wiggle monster while I was trying to get her dressed."

I took our daughter from Edward so he could get his jacket. "Of course she did," I said. "I swear, she would be happy to live everyday in just a diaper." Our one year old daughter, Renee Elizabeth Masen, was a bundle of energy. I am pretty sure she hasn't stopped moving since the first time she turned over, and getting her dressed was always an adventure.

"I know," Edward snorted as he grabbed the diaper bag and I grabbed my purse. Soon we were all buckled in the car and on our way, and Ray babbled away in the backseat as we made the short drive to the high school. I sighed as I looked around the Volvo; the car had definitely seen better days. Edward and I both knew it was time for him to get a new car, but neither of us was ready to part with this one. I knew we would end up driving this car into the ground, just like my truck. The big red Chevy had died a few years ago, and not even Jake could save it, although God knows he tried.

Jake's passion for cars had strengthened over the years, and he now owned his own garage in Seattle. Thankfully, his passion for me had cooled and the three of us now had a fairly friendly relationship. Jake was in a serious relationship with Leah, a girl he has known for years, and we were all very happy for him.

When we pulled into the parking lot, Esme, Carlisle and Charlie were all waiting for us.

"We aren't late, are we?" I asked as I scrambled out of the car.

"No, you are just in time," Esme replied as she walked over and kissed my cheek. Edward opened the car door and Ray's giggles filled the air. It was one of my favorite sounds in the whole world; it never failed to fill me with joy.

"Da da," She giggled as Edward took her out of her car seat.

"Hi princess," Edward laughed and kissed the top of her head. It was actually sunny today, so there were little hints of red shinning in Ray's chocolate brown curls. Edward turned to face me and I was met with two pairs of emerald green eyes full of laughter. I couldn't help but smile as I gazed at my perfect little family.

"We should head in," Carlisle said.

"Down!" Ray said as she started to bounce in Edward's arms. She had just started walking, and much to mine and Edward's disappointment she hardly ever like to be carried. We only really got away with it when she was really tired or not feeling well. Reluctantly Edward set Ray down and grabbed one of her hands, I grabbed the other one and we made our way in. We quickly found our seats; Edward had Ray in his lap and I handed her one of her dolls that I hoped would keep her busy during the ceremony.

"It must be nice for you guys to be around some older kids for a change," Charlie commented as he looked at graduates. Edward and I both worked at the elementary school; I taught first grade and Edward taught music. I loved my job. My students were handful, but they were also adorable. Spending my lunch hour with my sexy husband was pretty amazing too.

"Actually, I prefer the little ones," Edward said and smiled at Ray who was now chewing on her dolls arm.

"Me too," I agreed and kissed her cheek.

We all quieted down once the ceremony started and we watched as one by one the graduates took their first steps into adulthood. We all cheered when Jasper Hale walked across the stage. Alice and Jasper started dating two years ago, and had become pretty much inseparable.

I glanced over to where Rose and Emmett were sitting with three year old son, Noah. It still shocked me how much mine and Edward's relationship with them had changed over the years. Edward and Emmett were practically like brothers now, and Rose and I had actually become rather close. After high school we all went to the University of Washington together. Edward and Emmett were always hanging out, so Rose and I were forced to spend time together. Thankfully she dropped the bitch act and we became friends. We were bridesmaids in each other's weddings, Rose and Emmett are Renee's godparents, and Edward and I are Noah's.

The only downside to our friendship was that Emmett was not really close to his parents anymore. No matter what we did we couldn't get his mom to change her mind about Edward. Ryan had come around and he, Emmett and Edward would hang out now and again. Emily refused to budge on her opinion, and even though they never said anything I think it was starting to put a stain on their marriage.

"Alice Masen," we heard over the loudspeakers. I looked down and watched as Alice crossed the stage in her ugly yellow gown and beamed with pride when she held up her diploma.

"Al!" Ray squealed when she saw Alice. Alice babysat for Ray every Friday so that Edward and I could have a date night. Unless it was freezing, Edward and I always spent out date nights in our meadow. I am pretty sure Ray was conceived in that meadow. Ray and Alice adore each other, so the arrangement works out well.

Once the ceremony ended we all went to Esme and Carlisle's house for a celebratory dinner. I knew Esme and Carlisle were planning to have a bigger party for Alice in a few weeks, so the dinner was nothing too over the top. Edward and I ended up leaving early because Ray started getting fussy, but once we got her home, bathed, and in her favorite pajamas she was content enough to fall asleep quickly. With our daughter sleeping peacefully, Edward and I made our way to our room and his lips were on mine the second our door closed.

"Did I tell you how beautiful you looked today, love?" he asked between kisses.

"No," I replied breathlessly.

"You looked breathtaking," he whispered in my ear as he unzipped the back my dress. The dress fell to the floor and left me standing in nothing but my bra and panties. The chill of anticipation travelled up and down my body as Edward drank me in. I hastily unbuttoned Edward's shirt as he led me to the bed. Once lowered me down and hovered over me I made quick work of his pants. He wasted no time finding my lips with his own, and I moaned when his taste and scent overwhelmed me. He soon left a trail of fiery heat as he kissed his was down my neck. As always, when me made love, Edward paused to kiss my arm where the jagged heart used to be. Thanks to the cream Carlisle gave me I have no scar, but we both remember what was once there.

Thoughts of the past evaporate when Edward unhooks my bra. As he swirled his tongue around my hardened nipple I arched into him, overcome with pleasure. I rid Edward of his last article of clothing and once he is free I reach down and grasp him with my now overheated hand. Edward growls and the sound goes to straight to my core. He ripped my now drenched panties from my body, and with one lift of my hips he plunges in deep and we both moan.

Our pace starts off slow but we are soon moving in frenzy as pleasure and passion consume us. It doesn't take long before I feel myself falling. I bury my face in Edward's neck dig my fingers into his back as I tighten around him like vice. Edward's face is buried in my hair and I hear him groan as he lets go. Once our bodies and our breathing have calmed, we lay there tangled together, starting to drift off.

"I love you Bella," Edward murmured as he stroked my hair.

"I love you too" I replied and let myself drift into a contented, happy sleep.

After the storms Edward and I have weathered I feel blessed to have the content and the happy.

The End

**AN: Thanks to my beta Jenn for all of her hard work on this story! Thanks also to faxness4evr, the captains wife, Xx-BMSC-xX, jadedghost22, spunkransom12, gothgirl1245, bbkjv2008, sandy4321, sujari6 for taking the time to leave a review for the last chapter. I am so sorry this took so long to get up, RL can be a pain. First my computer broke and was with the Geek Squad for like a month, then my beta didn't have a computer. Anyway I want to thank everyone who took the time to read this story and everyone who left a review it means alot :)**

**New Story News: I have started working on a new story but won't start posting it until December. My Beta has entered NaNoWriMo and will be working on that all through November. I wish her the best of luck :) **

**If you leave a review for this chapter I will send you the summery of the new story and a sneek peek!**


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